


Deep Magic

by jeanjmo



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, M/M, Slow Build, Slow Burn, but they don't know it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2020-02-28 07:51:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 72,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18752152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeanjmo/pseuds/jeanjmo
Summary: Miranda Zellick, a witch attending school in far north west of the world, finds herself selected as potential candidate to compete in an alluring and mysterious ancient wizarding tournament at a school far away from her own. Stuck between a precarious reputation and an opportunity she cannot turn away from, Mira is left grasping at what it means to be a witch, a friend, a person.Alternate story in which a fourth wizarding school gets added to the triwizarding tournament. Primarily focuses on original characters.In truthfulness, this is the prequel to the story I actually wanna write that takes place during book five, but it requires a lot of context to make sense... So here we are.





	1. Mistakes

Miranda and five other students sat in the almost empty dining hall mouths agape. _A Triwizarding what?_ On the tip of all their tongues.

               Moll, the matron of Tilson, School of Deep Magic in the western north of Canada, was bouncing on her heels, a gleam in her eyes. The excitement was expected, the announcement was not.

               “ We have been asked to participate in the Triwizarding Tournament of Europe. With two other schools.” She repeated, looking mischievous, “ It is a wonderful opportunity for us to escape this barren north and meet the witches and wizards of the world.”

               “ And what the hell does this entail? Don’t we get like, a say in this before you ship us off?” Chel was standing up from her bench, face twisted in frustration at not understanding. Chel was a sixth year student at Tilson, tall, brash, very firey temper.

               “ No need to yell,” Moll said, amused, “ It’s a very old tournament, and one of their original schools dropped out, so they’ve asked up to replace them.” Moll paused thoughtfully, “ and I’m not shipping you off! I’ll be joining, wouldn’t turn this up for the world.” And she rubbed her hands together, grinning.

               The six young students stared at her, flummoxed. It was after dinner on their first day back to school after the summer and they’d gathered at the front of the dining all, other students dismissed. The fire was flickering dimly, casting long shadows across the plain room.

Miranda, one of the youngest amongst them, now thought she had been summoned to this meeting by mistake. When Moll had given her a squeeze on the shoulder and bent to her ear during dinner, asking her to stay behind afterwards, she could only imagine it was about how poorly her grades were last year. How she’d have to take repeat classes with the fourth years and she’d casually shrugged to her friends, who all knew she wasn’t academically inclined and exerted no effort to be so. Or it could be to lecture her on last year’s brush up with trouble she’d had… She’d thought those were over, but then again, Moll hadn’t been directly involved. Maybe she wanted a turn making her feel useless…

               Moll announcing some outlandish stunt like this was not out of character, but as she explained in more depth what would be expected of them, how long they’d be gone, just the mention of the word “champion”, Miranda felt more and more at odds with her presence. Chel, Nora, Liam and Onyx were all upper years, accomplished in many areas, well on their way to success. And Rina, the only other fifth year, was a firecracker of likeability and ambition. Had Moll invited Miranda as a joke? To balance out the talent of the other five with a dud like her? Or was it just a mistake? Had she meant to place her hand on Jules’, sitting on her left at dinner, shoulder? Jules was a good student and even better flyer, she could be a champion.

               So when Moll dismissed them back to their dorms after explaining in more, but still quite unsatisfying detail, Miranda lingered.

               “ Yes, Miranda?” Moll’s personality took up entire rooms, in an exuberant, encouraging way, but Miranda seemed to tower over her physically. It made her feel lanky and gawky. What do I do with my limbs, she wondered.

               “ Um… I just… wanted to check you didn’t ask me here by mistake.”

               “ A mistake? Oh, I make plenty of mistakes. I make six or twelve a day, a minute, but let me assure you this was consciously done. We won’t know if it’s a mistake until after, won’t we? Well, unless you stay behind. Which you could, of course. But then we’d never know…”

               Miranda stared at her with her mouth open. Suddenly aware of the fire dying down she felt sleepy and rubbed her eye. “ I don’t… I don’t believe in champions.”

               Moll gleamed, the low light flitting in her eye, she placed a hand on Miranda’s shoulder, “ an excellent response.” And then she was halfway across the room and almost out the door, turning around just to say, “put the fire out, won’t you? And dream well tonight.” She winked and was gone.

               Miranda stood in the low flickering light for some time before she put it out. What she thought was going to be another year of bad dreams keeping her up all night in the greenhouse and asleep in her classes might possibly turn into her…. trying to fight for her school’s honour? Halfway across the world? She yawned. Seemed like a bother, maybe she’d skip out.

 

How Tilson actually got involved in the Triwizarding Tournament was a little more complicated, a little more mischievous, than Moll let on. She’d been travelling through Europe that summer, collecting various plant specimens and meeting certain powerful people to learn from. She always liked to return to the new school year with a new set of knowledge to share with her students. However, Europe never failed to amuse her more than teach her. Yes, the teachings were old, and yes, the people there knew what they were doing, but what they were doing? It was so very different than what they did at Tilson.

Tilson focuses on old magic, deep magic. The students learn to wield magic without spells, to manipulate the energy of the world in an intuitive way. It doesn’t always work, of course, not everyone has access to that kind of ability, but when it did work… When it did work it was something beyond the comprehension of all those posh aristocrats across the pond.

So when Moll came across an uptight Bartemius Crouch at a wizarding convention in Glasgow, it was only natural for her to have a little fun toying with his sensibilities. At first, he thought she was a delusional old witch, but a few tricks of her hand, and supplied with some very fine firewhiskey, he began to see the beauty of her magic. He also began to talk.

Top secret information was that they were going to be hosting the infamous Triwizarding Tournament at Hogwarts this year. Oh, and wasn’t that about magical cooperation? Isn’t that about connecting with students from other countries and schools? Yes, Barty had said, yes it was. Funny, then, said Moll at the time, that I happen to be a Matron of one such school just across the ocean and a rather large expanse of land. Barty, now thoroughly intoxicated by the very fine whiskey and mysterious allure that was Moll, laughed. Oh, wouldn’t that be something? But no, it’s not meant to be. It’s always the same schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. But then again… Karkaroff was playing coy. Barty admitted that he figured it was because he simply wanted to be difficult with the UK Ministry, but what if he did outright refuse? You couldn’t have a Triwizarding Tournament with only _two_ schools.

This is where Moll got her way in. Well, of course you can’t, dear Barty, so invite us! Invite Tilson, have your three schools! We’d be happy to join.

               Drunk Barty beamed. His anxiety about the tournament being quelled by this mysterious old witch with a peculiar breed of magic.

               But hung over Barty didn’t quite feel the same. He felt embarrassed and tried to repress the entire evening from his memory. He never lost control. He never spilled secrets, he never got _drunk._ He hoped dearly that Moll would forget, because he knew, most certainly, that Karkaroff would give in. And they couldn’t have _four_ Triwizarding champions, that plainly went against the name.

               But Moll didn’t forget. She owled him and owled him. He ignored her at first. But then she came in person one day and very loudly informed a shocked Percy Weasley, or Weatherby, of the plan. And rumours began circulating before she’d even gained entry to Barty’s office.

               Moll was also mischievous enough to go behind Barty’s back. She owled Dumbledore, she owled Madame Maxime. _They_ were on board, Barty, why shouldn’t you be?

               After a long, very stressful and very painful few weeks for Barty, he finally conceded. Fudge himself had simply shrugged his shoulders, why not? He had said. The more the merrier, much to Crouch’s horror.

               So Tilson would be the fourth school.

               Tilson was a very small school, with only about twenty students per year. So Moll knew them all well, and she knew exactly who she would bring with her. They were allowed twelve, but she figured only six were needed from her. So she chose students that would each make a distinctly different kind of champion.

               Chel, vicious, feisty, cunning.

               Liam, kind, courageous.

               Onyx, dark, mysterious.

               Rina, bold, firey.

               Nora, contemplative, calculated.

               And finally, Miranda. Who couldn’t see a damn reason why the hell she was chosen. She could see it in the others. She knew her magic was a strange kind, but she continuously flunked charms, she barely skirted by transfiguration, and she flew a broom like she was driving a garbage truck. The others were proficient in, well, _everything_ it seemed to her.

               But Moll was an enigma. Her motives almost never clear until after the fact. Tilson bloomed with talent and complex magics under her touch and who was Miranda to disagree with the eccentric but wise? She wasn’t sure.

She wasn’t sure.


	2. Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moll has to pay attention to the details and Miranda has to make a decision.

Moll wouldn’t have cared to give the students a deadline on their reply of whether they were coming or not. She’d told them to meet her at the tower on October 14th, magical bags packed and it wasn’t any difference to her if they showed or not. But Celina, the other half of Tilson, was not so lackadaisical about details.

“ Moll, really, I do wish you had spoken to me first.” They were in Moll’s house, a small squat thing with thick pale walls and a low ceiling, like all the buildings here, apart from the old tower. It was well illuminated by candles and a fire so Moll couldn’t miss the tired expression on Celina’s face when she turned from her desk at the window to look at her, sitting beside the hearth.

Celina was getting older, Moll could see the wrinkles in her face and silvery streaks in her long flowing hair. What did that mean for her?

“ I know you can handle things here.” Moll said, ignoring the internal inquiry and returning to her desk.

Celina chuckled, “ that’s not my issue. I know you’ll walk in and out as you please and I wouldn’t presume to change that.”

Moll stiffened almost imperceptibly, “ so the issue, then?” before turning over a leaf of paper and scribbling something down on it.

“ The students. You can’t do this to them.”

“ What do you mean? They’re hungry for a challenge, Celina. An exchange will be good for them.”

“ But you’ve given them no choice.”

“ They’ve always got a choice, they don’t have to come.”

“ Did you tell them that?”

“ Do I have to?” But Moll could see the knowing smile forming on Celina’s lips without turning around. Of course. Not everyone could read her subtext like Celina could, and she sighed and leaned back on her chair, quill down. She’d been working with teenagers for how long, and still, there were marvellous gaps in her understanding sometimes.

“ And the parents, Moll. We’ll have to tell them.”

Moll left her desk and took a seat beside Celina. She lifted the other witch’s hand into her own, tracing the lines there, feeling the heartbeat below. She sighed, Celina smiled softly.

“ Alright Celina.” And the two of them spent the witching hour writing up parental consent forms and a packing list.

 

Rumours were circulating quickly. Being such a small school, everyone knew everything about what was happening to who and it was only a matter of time before you were subjected to the center of discourse. Miranda kept out of it better than most. Not that she was never spoken of, more that she didn’t listen to what people were saying. But the Triwizarding gossip found its way to her ears almost as soon as she left the dining hall and she couldn’t block it out.

_Do you think Moll hates this school? She keeps finding reasons to keep herself away longer every year._

_I’ll bet you a love potion that Chel loses her temper over something stupid before they leave and they send Marv in her place._

_Nora? She’s basically a mouse, she’ll be eaten alive._

_I hear those European schools have crazy magical regulations, I’m glad I didn’t get asked to tie myself up in that._

_What’s the use of being champion overseas, anyway? Sounds lame._

_Miranda Zellick will poison those European kids dreams within five minutes of setting foot on the property._

               Every whisper she heard churned in her head at night. Why was she chosen to go? Was it because of her freak breed of magic? What seemed more likely to her was that Moll and the other teachers wanted her gone but couldn’t expel her outright. Did that bother her? She didn’t want to be champion, she didn’t want to go. But did she want to stay?

So, one day into school and unable to sleep again? Granted different reasons, but the outcome was still Miranda slipping out her dorm room window and making her way to the greenhouse. She’d been caught doing this ten or twelve times. The first time was bad. _The spirits are out strong and unpredictable at night, you don’t wanna to get caught in a cosmic argument, do you?_ She’d rolled her eyes, _so what if I do?_ And then the dreams she was having got louder and Ren, the herbology teacher stopped locking the greenhouse door at night.

               She could imagine her teachers’ faces when she fell asleep in class, _this again? didn’t we solve this?_ And her peers would whisper behind her and she’d go wilfully deaf for another ten months. She dropped out of her first storey window, quiet as to not to disturb Jules, her roommate, and walked along the dewy cool grass, relishing the feeling on her bare feet. _Was this going to be routine then?_ She wondered.

               She saw Liam and another student darting behind the broom shed. It wasn’t the first time she’d spotted other kids out at night, and normally it would make her roll her eyes. They were out being dumb and young and she was out because her dreams sucked out her soul and sometimes seeped into other peoples… But tonight it made her feel differently. It gave her a pang of something she couldn’t quite name.

               _If I stay here… it’ll be another year of existing apart from my peers. If I go, will that change?_ She was not usually sorry to be different from everyone else. She got bored and easily slipped into and enjoyed the role of the misunderstood. It felt superior.

               But the whispering… The not sleeping… The pitiful glances. They were starting to make her itch. She wanted to be anonymous. She wanted to be somewhere people might think she was normal and she could be imperceptible and when she snuck out at night it would be for something they’d put in a muggle romcom movie she sometimes watches with her younger sister. If she went to this big school across the world… she could be a champion. Or she could write someone else’s name on her submission to the tournament and sink into the background.

 

The next morning at breakfast Moll tiredly walked to the front of the dining hall, Celina drifting in behind her. She turned towards her students, who naturally fell quiet at her address, and held her hands out by her sides.

“ I’m sure many of you have heard the news already.” All the whispers in the hall hushed. “ And I’m sure some of you have question.” She pauses, the playful gleam still dancing in her eye despite the heaviness under them. “ But for those who don’t know, Tilson is to take part in a Triwizarding Tournament, although I do believe it will now be a Quadwizarding Tournament, in the United Kingdom. Six of you will be joining me across the seas, while Celina,” and she turned and smiled at her counterpart, “ will take care of the rest of you here. As well as your many other lovely teachers.” And Moll smiled softly at them.

A fourth year boy stood up from his table, “ And… er, how does one get chosen?”

“ I’ve already spoken to six of you. Chosen by an aptitude test measuring many qualities. Should any of these six choose not to attend… another shall be chosen. However, it must also be understood that only one student from our school will be competing in the tournament. The other five… Will have something of a study abroad.”

“ And how is the one chosen, then?” Asked a girl sitting near Moll.

“ Excellent question. I believe it has something to do with a large cup erupting into flames.”  Nobody was quite sure if she was joking or not and they knew better than to ask for clarification.

Miranda, sitting beside Jules and her friend Marv, was looking at her bowl of oatmeal with more interest than it perhaps warranted. She hadn’t told anyone about being chosen, but everyone of course already found out last night.

 Jules nudged her in wonderment halfway through Moll’s speech, “special aptitude test, huh?” Miranda shrugged, she had no idea what that meant.

A brief look around at the potential champions showed a smug Chel, Rina and Liam bashful, Nora embarrassed, Onyx a stone wall, and Miranda looking annoyed. For a brief second Miranda caught Kel, her former roommates, eye. Kel looked away immediately, the intensity of Miranda’s gaze too much. She could almost feel the anxiety pumping in the other girl’s blood.

 _People will be relieved if I go._ She sighed loudly, shoving away her oatmeal. It was an easy choice, wasn’t it?


	3. Until October 14th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More alternate school backstory, only one more chapter of this and the real stuff will begin!!

 

Mira came from non-magical parents, from a suburb in southern Ontario. Despite being muggle, they weren’t unfamiliar with the world of sorcery. An aunt, a second cousin, hints of magic popped up and ebbed out of her family throughout their whole history. So when Mira started talking to the neighbourhood cats and crows her family didn’t just chalk it up to an overactive imagination. They shrugged. They said it didn’t change how the world was.

They didn’t treat her like a freak but they didn’t act like she was something special either. If anything, her magical talents were a nuisance.

Look Ma, I turned the cat purple.

Oh Miranda, could you please just do your math homework?

She was bad at magic school, imagine just how disappointing she was in regular school. Her defence was her family’s classic; a shrug.

So when Mira told her parents she was asked to compete in a famous tournament on another continent, that people had died during it, that it was very prestigious, that she could be a champion, they were reluctant with the enthusiasm.

               She’d decided she’d better ask her mother. Who’s only note in the owl back was, “ sounds like an experience.” And when she wrote to her father to inform him of the decision his response was what she expected. “ Don’t be too much like your aunt.” Meaning, don’t get yourself into trouble. The only person who demonstrated excitement was her younger sister, Anya, who was non-magical and deeply regretted it.

               So the form was signed. She was going. Only three weeks left to endure the awkward glances and whispering of her fellow students. Most of whom thought she was unworthy or asked to go in order to get her away from everyone else.

               Moll gathered the six of them together a couple times a week, under the guise of preparing them for the magical culture shock they would receive when they crossed the world. But she didn’t talk much about European customs, more told stories about encounters she’d had throughout her years.

               They usually met in the dining room, had the fire going hot since the nights were already cold here. The scene usually looked like this;

               Moll standing beside the fire, not one for sitting down for lengthy periods, bouncing as she wove her tales. A warlock trying to sell counterfeit skrewts. Whole groups of people who considered Veela as they had sirens of old. And the spells. A spell for everything, can you imagine that?

               Liam would be sprawled out, the essence of relaxed, listening attentively. Rina, eager for any detail, somehow seeming to bounce as much as Moll without leaving her seat on the floor beside the fire. Nora, enraptured but not sitting too close to the action, tucked in a large chair. Chel laying on her back on a bench, continual yawning and if she wasn’t actually asleep, adding snarky comments. Onyx sitting near the window, staring skyward but listening. And Mira, usually folded arms on the table with her head down between them, distanced from everyone else. She was sceptical, she was sulky, but she listened.

               Tonight they gathered as usual, but Moll had yet to show up. Only Rina and Liam making any efforts to talk.

               “ I’m getting nervous.” Liam admitted sheepishly, almost grinning, like the feeling of nerves was  a novelty he was treasuring. Maybe it was.

               “ I’m not.” Said Rina assertively, “ I’m ready for whatever those posh, old hat sorcerers have in store for us.”

               Nora, not looking up for her book, “ you don’t know anything about it, how could you be?”

               “ I read the texts Celina recommended us. Brutal stuff. It’ll be no trouble.” Rina grinned and Liam laughed at her joke but Nora didn’t look convinced.

               “ You’ll probably get your head ripped off in five seconds.” Murmured Chel, quietly but still loud enough for everyone to hear her opinion.

               “ No one’s going to die this time.” Liam retorted, nervously though, without the cheeky grin.

               “ So they say.” Chel rested back down into her sleeping position on the bench. Onyx giving her a look, “what?” But Onyx just looked back out the window. Something about her made Mira feel on edge, but comforted all the same. She hadn’t really spoken to any of the others, apart from some classroom talk with Rina, who was in the same year. And she wasn’t about to make any efforts now.

               Moll entered, smiling. “Sorry to make you wait.” Chel rolled her eyes, but no one else showed any annoyance. “ I’m afraid no stories tonight, I’ve got urgent business with a minister from the southern coast, cannot be helped.”

               “ So… we should just go back to our dorms then?” Rina was visibly disappointed.

               “ Yes, I suppose so. Do whatever it is you young people do during these late hours.” Moll winked and stood still before them. It seemed like she had something more to say to them but then she said, “ I’m using the floo in this fireplace. The one in my house always makes people’s heads go all wonky and it’s resulted in some rather awful vomiting fits. Floo vomit is a real bother to get out of the carpet.”

               Miranda, Onyx and Nora were the first to understand this meant they better fuck off, and started standing up to go. Chel and Liam following, and finally Rina. They all filed away to their separate dormitories.

               Being in the same dorm as Rina and Nora, Miranda knew it would be suspicious if she didn’t return there with them at this late hour so she pretended to be interested in the sky, dawdling behind. And truthfully she was interested in the sky. Up in the clear north it said very different things than it did in her suburban home town.

She could feel someone watching her and she turned to see it was Onyx, they made steady eye contact for a moment, before Chel brushed by Onyx in her usual determined gale, and Onyx followed, back to their dorm.  

Everyone gone, Mira made her way towards the greenhouses. It was too early to sleep and being in the common room or with Jules sometimes felt like she was suffocating herself. She knew an hour or two amongst the plants would calm her down. She could brew a lavender tea, send herself off sweetly tonight.

As she turned the corner around greenhouse one she felt someone grabbing her wrist and reacted immediately. A force emanated from the center of her chest outwards, and propelled a startled Liam five feet away and onto the ground.

Miranda, shocked, didn’t react, simply stared down at the now disheveled boy.

“ Mira? God, fuck, I thought you were someone else.” He stood up, brushing himself off.

“ What are you doing out here?” She asked without thinking. She knew he was meeting someone and they’d end up either in greenhouse one or behind the broom shed. He’d been doing it for the past two weeks, and curiosity did not get the best of Mira, she didn’t care who the other person involved was.

“ I’m, I’m just…” He blushed, got flustered, “well, what are you doing out here?”

“ It’s better I don’t follow the same sleep schedule as other people.” She said blandly.

His face went blank, then to slight embarrassment. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking at his shoes, “ Oh. Um… That’s still going on, huh?”

“ Uh huh.” And she walked past him, towards greenhouse four, her usual spot. It was a lie. _That_ was not still going on, hadn’t been for some time now. But it was an easy excuse, and she didn’t want to talk.

Liam felt differently, “ I’m sorry, I shouldn’t even know about that… It’s just, well, people talk and I guess I listened, I’m sorry. I hope you’re okay.”

His sincerity caught her off guard. She’d heard it from other students, not everyone thought she was best avoided, but she preferred to believe they did, or even better, that they didn’t think of her at all.

She looked back at him, searching for something, she didn’t know what, in his face. Just then, Soren, a boy from Liam’s year, walked around the corner, eyes soft when they landed on Liam and startled when they saw Mira. He stopped in his tracks. Liam had a half second of panic as well, looking between the other two.

Mira smirked, “ I won’t tell anyone.” And stalked off to greenhouse four.


	4. Dream Walking in the Draughty Sugar Shack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The journey to Hogwarts begins... slowly

               Moll hadn’t told them they weren’t heading directly to Hogwarts. They had assumed, naturally, that at dusk on October 14th, they’d make their way across the ocean and be subjected to whatever this flaming cup thing Moll was so vague about wanted from them. On October 14th, bags packed and waiting at the foot of the amazingly not yet toppled over astronomy tower, the so called pride of Tilson was informed they’d be going to Marouse, a magical hotspot somewhere in Quebec mountains.

               “ Not that I’m not excited by the Québécois, but, uh… why?” Rina, voicing the confusion of the group.

               “ Oh, I think you’ll find these next two weeks quite enjoyable.” Moll smiled.

               “ Two weeks in some dinky French mountains, huh?” Chel’s arms were folded, eyebrow raised.

               “ Precisely. So if you’d follow me, our portkey awaits.” And Moll turned on her heel and marched around the old tower, and towards the sparse woods behind it. Mira and Liam exchanged sceptical glances, but Mira shrugged and followed behind Rina, who despite her doubts, walked along eagerly enough.

               Moll stopped suddenly, a few strides into the trees, and looked about the forest floor. She bent down and picked up a smooth stone, inspected it, tossed it over her shoulder. She repeated this several times and then crouched beside a somewhat larger stone.

               “ Ah yes, gather round kids. Come on, hurry. Got your bags? Excellent.” And a few shuffling and awkwardly scrunching together moments later they were wrenched through space and tossed onto a green hillside.

               Miranda landed on her arms with a thud, with Liam draped over her back legs. “ uhhh, oh god. What… Oh! Sorry Mira!” And Liam was up and giving her his arm in a second. The other students were equally haphazard, a few trunks had ended up in the trees.

               Further east, there was still some pale daylight seeping in through the forest. Moll looked out over a sprawling vista below them, beaming. “ Wonderful.”

               “ I think I broke a rib.” Murmured Chelsea, as Rina scrambled off of her chest. Onyx kneeled beside her and put her hand out, sensing.

               “ You’re being dramatic again.” She said quietly, but with a tinge of humour.

               Moll, apparently done with looking at the view turned to face them again. She waved her hand and all the trunks and bags immediately flew to their owners. She began striding upwards, “ come along.”

               It was twenty minutes of panting upwards, and then along, and then down again, before they came into a clearing with a small shack. Moll headed straight for the front door and they assumed it was their destination. They also assumed that it was enchanted, that when they went inside it wouldn’t look nearly as dilapidated as the outside. The sad exterior must have been a muggle deterrent.

               They were wrong.

               The inside was equally as ill-kempt.

               “ Tell me we’re just here to collect some magical floorboard and be on our way?” Chel asked, although no trace of real hope in her voice.

               “ You think I brought you out here on an errand, Chelsea?” Moll asked, more seriously than usual.

               Chel rolled her eyes, “ of course not.”

               “ This is the sugar shack. This is where we’ll be staying.” Moll was pleasant now, and seating herself crossed legged in the middle of the dark, dusty, shack.

               “ The sugar shack?” Nora asked, joining Moll on the floor.

               “ Yes. Where muggles make maple syrup.”

               “ I know what it is. It just doesn’t look very well equipped for the task. Or… anything.” Nora was frowning, only a little, as she looked around.

               Rina, having just inspected some unidentifiable old piece of, well, something, sneezed. Moll seemed to take this as a cue, waved her hand and the dust whirled out the window, which repaired itself as a fire began to blaze in the hearth, and hammocks hung themselves between the beams and empty syrup tanks.          

               “ Join me please.”  Moll motioned to the floor. As they all sat down she began to explain, “ we’ll be here the next thirteen days. I know it’s odd, and seemingly uncomfortable but it is likely this entire year will be just that.”

               “ If the entire year is going to be like this I’d like to opt out.” Mumbled Chel.

               “ That is _not_ a very champion like attitude.” Moll’s eyes sparkled at her own joke. She looked around at everyone else. “ Oh come on, you’re all so glum. You’ll be fine. Besides, this is the perfect place to practice our dreaming.”

               Mira noticed everyone became tense at the mention of dreaming, and she knew why.

               “ And our spells,” Moll added. The mention of spells certainly peaked the attention of the students. Spellcraft was not highly valued at Tilson. The only class that you really used a wand in was charms, the primary focus of their education centered around navigating and understanding the magical world. Potions, herbology, astronomy, and magical creatures were the most emphasized importance. To even use a wand at Tilson you had to demonstrate you understood the basic principles of wand making. Much like if you wanted to fly a broom, you had to build your own. And this is a privilege reserved for your third year of study, and even then, as wand making is notoriously finicky, most students had to remake them several times.

               “ We will begin with dreaming.” Moll stated, outstretching her palms towards Nora and Liam on their side of her. But the students weren’t so ready to respond, disappointed after the promise of the novelty of spell casting, and nervous to enter the dream world.

               “ Can’t we start with the spells?” Asked Rina excitedly.

               “ No.” Moll closed her eyes, hands still outstretched.

               “ Why are we practising dreaming at all?” Chel asked lazily.

               Moll sighed, opening her eyes and setting her hands down. “ A lot will be thrown at you this year, whether you’re in the tournament or not. I want you to be prepared.”

               “ You mean… dream stuff? Is this some sort of endurance nightmare? Because I wouldn’t have agreed if I knew—“ Rina was cut off by Moll raising her hand.

               “ Of course not. Magical fields are so different in Europe they barely have to worry about these kinds of magics. And I know,” she began before anyone could question the importance, “ I know it seems strange for me to put such an emphasis on it. But this year is going to present a number of challenges unique to you all. You won’t be coming back to the comforts of our woods for some time now, but you can always go into your own mind.”

               “ Right.” Chel was sarcastic. Rina and Liam seemed a little concerned at this as well. “ So why can’t we start with the spells?” Mira wondered that herself.

               “ Because I said so. Now Miranda, would you do us the honour of leading the first walk?” The reaction of her peers did not match the casual manner in which Moll had asked. Apart from Onyx, who betrayed nothing, she could tell the others were nervous about Mira being part of this at all, let alone leading them.

               She frowned but stuck out her hands to clasp Onyx and Rina’s, the two sitting beside her in the circle. Rina was very reluctant, but Onyx was calm and steady, her hand warming Mira’s own in a way she hadn’t expected.

               When the circle of hands was formed she closed her eyes and began working inwards.

~~

               Two years ago Mira’s dreams had begun. Something about the potent magical field Tilson was built upon activated something within her mind. It must have started when she’d first began attending but it didn’t show itself of any consequence until the middle of third year.

               For the first incident, a confused thirteen year old, Moll had been there. Mira had thought she was having a lucid dream, as had been happening increasingly. So it didn’t seem harmful to wander into the woods at night and convene with the birds there and convince them to follow her, flying her broom, in circles around the school grounds. When Moll sent a spell and knocked her off her broom, landing in the cold water of the stream, the _not_ waking up was the shocking part.

               Moll was kind. Something similar had happened with a boy falling into a trance and tempting all the school rabbits to destroy the entirety of greenhouse two, conveniently where his school assignment to grow a rather strange plant named living blood, was being housed. For the next week she taught Mira several sleeping tricks to avoid the waking dream, and she showed no night time behaviour out of the ordinary for the rest of the year.

Her nightmares assuaged, she returned to a suburban summer that year, away from magics almost entirely, the dreams about faded completely. But forth year brought on a torrent of images worse than the year previous, and Moll, gone periodically throughout most of the year, was not there to quell the storm.

               Something about Mira’s mind called to the magical creatures of the dreaming realm. They pulled and poked at her consciousness, taking images, memories, away from her, adding some in. Some were enjoyable, some were horrifying. It depended on the night. And though the tricks Moll taught her were useful, they were meant for weak trances, not an onslaught of midnight visions. Slowly, the dream beasts leaked through Mira’s blockades. Containing the joyous was as difficult as containing the painful, and they both affected her unhappily. First it showed in her actions. She was always tired, she couldn’t make herself care about her studies, everyone seemed uninteresting. In comparison to the intense happiness she felt dreaming, or the pits of despair she’d been thrown into, everything waking just seemed so… boring.

               _She must be depressed._

_Family trouble, her parents are divorced aren’t they? Muggles unaccepting of her talents?_

_Her crush back home rejected her._

_Her dog died._

_She needed to get laid._

There were a lot of theories about her behaviour, as there are theories about everything in a small school. Then… A strange phenomenon occurred. Many of the people on school grounds began dreaming together. Dreams of flying, dreams of confession, lofty dreams, dreams of depths no one wanted to go to… It seemed odd. But this was Tilson, everything was odd.

Miranda’s visions swept through half a dorm, then half the school. The worst to suffer was Kel, who slept in the closest proximity to her. Mira still couldn’t face what had happened between them, what she had manifested, without wanting to be sick.

The teachers didn’t know what to do. Half the school was going crazy from sleep deprivation or suffering from nightmares. When eventually they realized it was Mira causing it, who hadn’t really known herself, she had to be sent away. Up further north, to an old bog witch who made her drink herbs and hang upside down over a steaming pit, slowly hammering in the principals of dream blocking. Two months she spent there.

After she returned, having learned to close her mind to unwanted guests, she realized her peers had learned to stay away from her. She had made people go crazy, so of course they wouldn’t trust her immediately. And although no incident had occurred since early spring of last year, most people were still wary.

 

~~

 

Sensing the fear of those around her Mira was tempted to throw them into the most complex and intense dream walk she could muster, but she knew it would only increase their discomfort, and in turn her own. So she did the most simple, serene scene she had. Just a meadow, with sunlight that tickled the skin.

The way it worked was that she could bring them there, they would be able to sense each other’s presences, but they wouldn’t be able to interact or see each other in a physical sense. Or at least most of them wouldn’t be able to. Mira having been forced to advance her dreaming skills beyond the recommendation for someone of her age and experience could interact with other dreamers, but after having been the cause of so many nightmares, she preferred not to.

She could tell most of them had been present in her dreams before at some point or other last year. Their dreaming bodies felt familiar to her, and she continued to sense their anxiety in the scene she’d brought them to for some time. However, it soon faded, everyone becoming relaxed. The scene was so low stimulation, there was nothing to cause stress. They were beginning to trust her.

After sensing this she added complexity, some flowers blooming, a tree, some butterflies. It was a cheesy scene, and it almost embarrassed her to bring them here, but anything else would have been a mistake. A few moments longer and she gently brought them out of it. They all returned to the cold shack, realizing a draught had picked up and almost whisked out their fire.

“ Wow, it’s never been that way before.” Nora’s tone almost reached admiration, and she blushed when she realized she’d spoken without thinking. Miranda had forgotten that most kids around her age couldn’t conjure up a scene at all, let alone share one. She realized then this might have been Nora’s first time in a witch-made visual dream, and not just an emotional one they mostly focus on in school.

“ Knew you’d make a powerful champion.” Liam winked at her when he said it, it was teasing and she couldn’t help but give a little smile.

Moll smiled softly at her, “ very good, Miranda,” and there was something like pride on her face. Onyx squeezed her hand lightly before letting go, sending a warm feeling up her arm. She hadn’t imagined she’d ever have the opportunity to show her peers they were safe from her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise next chapter we'll get to familiar ground!!


	5. A Foggy Crystal Ball & The Goblet of Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they finally arrive.

                In removed pockets of the world, views of how and when to do what are often quite different than established norms elsewhere. While in Europe, and in most of North America, with a few exceptions, north-western Tilson being one such spot, the dominant mindset is that the wand hones the sorcerer. Which is why young magical people are given wands from the onset of their magical education, for without it, it’s generally accepted, detecting and crafting your own magical abilities can be unpredictable, volatile, or in some cases, resulting in a sort of squib.

               At Tilson, the general agreement was the sorcerer hones the wand. That being able to sense magic within the world, to touch and eventually wield it without an instrument, created a deeper understanding and bond with the natural world, and only then, would you be deemed strong enough to direct this energy through a wand.

               In Moll’s opinion, neither preference was the more correct. Many supporters of Tilson’s method, in fact many of the parents who sent their kids to there, thought that sticking a wand in a child’s hand was dangerous and they ought not to be allowed until they fully grasped the responsibility of magic wielding. Moll thought that was a horribly boring way to raise a child, and the same argument could be made by people of the European mindset about the danger of loosing magic without a tool of direction. Her own reasoning more aligned with a respect for craftsmanship, and a deep admiration for the wands and the spells they emitted, that her students produced. She had seen many students leave school to purchase commercial wands and find more satisfaction with those, but she had also seen many students find deeper understandings of their own personality and power by crafting their own instruments.

               She never wanted to rush the process of discovering a suitable wand, however, since these students would be venturing to a new land, a new set of beliefs, she couldn’t have them unprepared. She knew the tournament would focus heavily on spell casting, and she did not want the Tilson champion feeling embarrassed by lack of ability. Over the 13 days spent at the sugar shack she drilled them, in her own hands off way, in what would be considered quite basic spells where they were going. Simple summoning charms, basic deflections, a minor curse or jinx. Rina, Liam and Chel took remarkably well to the ready-made incantations. The other three were more apt at intuitive, creative spell making.

               Miranda grew frustrated quickly. Her wand didn’t like to respond to her voice, she could practically hear it protesting when she asked a polite wingardium levisoa, let alone a shield charm. She’d felt so connected and ready when she’d carefully chosen and wedeled her eleven and a half inch pine wand, with crow feather. Perhaps choosing such an ordinary bird feather as a core had been a faulty choice after all. Watching Rina and Chel blast each other across the mountain didn’t help her sinking feeling that she was a lousy witch.

               After a particularly brutal spar, Chel returned up the hillside, panting. “ God, what were we doing in those five years? I could be a master dueller by now.”

               “ And who exactly would you be duelling, Chel?” Teased Onyx, who’d been practising blocking spells with Liam.

               “ I don’t know. Anyone.” Chel shrugged, tossing herself onto the ground.

               Rina returned from somewhere further down the mountain, hair full of leaves and twigs, a little annoyed. “ You don’t need to be _that_ violent next time.” She huffed in Chel’s direction, who again, shrugged.

               “ Never let your guard down.” As soon as Chel said it a blast of red skimmed Mira’s forehead, taking with it half of her right eyebrow.

               “ Sorry!” Yelped Nora. “ I wasn’t trying to do that.”

               Mira touched her eyebrow questioningly, she only felt a slight tingling burn. “ It’s alright. I let my guard down.” The other’s laughed in response.

               “ Here, let me look at that.” Onyx walked towards her, probably, Mira assumed, trying to get out of working with Liam any longer.

               She moved Mira’s hand and inspected her eyebrow, before lifting two fingers and brushing them, without touching the skin, across the burn line. A feeling like cool water drifted over her, calming the mark.

               “ I don’t think it will scar.” Onyx said, dropping her hand.

               “ Thanks.” Mira mumbled, before turning back to Nora in order to jinx her.

 

               Moll watched the magical developments from the sidelines for the most part. Once a day she might lead them into very complex dreams or precise spells, but she encouraged them all to attempt to learn these themselves. She herself was a great dreamer and playful spell caster. She held the talent for dreaming in particular high on her list of favourable traits. She hadn’t had the chance to immerse students in it so fully, magical curriculum often overlooking the potential importance it could hold.

               Sometimes Moll took Miranda aside, and they would merge dream worlds in intricate ways that required them both to maintain open passageways and hold up blocks simultaneously. She was confident Mira was capable at holding the visions of others at bay, but keeping her sharp and vigilant just in case couldn’t hurt.

                After thirteen days they were all exhausted. And rather dirty, as showering accommodations were less than perfect in the shack. Moll returned from one of her unexplained absences, bringing with her several more bags and trunks, to find them all lousing about outside the shack, enjoying the October sunshine. It was warmer in the mountains here, which were more southern than Tilson.

               “ Well don’t sit around, we’re going to be late for dinner.”

               “ Dinner? It’s midday.”

               “ Time difference, Rina.” Said Nora, exhaustedly.

               “ Right! So… How exactly are we getting there?” It was a question they’d all been thinking of but too preoccupied to ask.

               “ Crystal ball.” Moll said walking into the sugar shack. They all followed and watched as she flicked her wand and neatly arranged all the baggage and then pulled a clear orb out of her pocket, placing it in the middle of the floor. Nobody moved. Seemingly shocked that not everyone immediately understood what they were meant to do Moll added, “ Come on. Circle up!”

               They formed a circle, still unsure.

               “ Very good. Now hold out your wand. No, not so tightly, just relaxed, barely balancing it on your palm, yes… And point it at the crystal ball and gaze into it.” They all did as they were told and Moll began speaking in what sounded to them like gibberish.

               Slowly Miranda began to feel as if she were falling asleep. Moll’s words were luring her into a dream… No, not a dream, into the crystal ball. One second she was watching fog begin to billow within it and the next moment she was standing in the middle of it. And then she was growing, growing taller and her face was pressing into something invisible… Her face was pressing into smooth, curved glass. She could see an outline of dark shapes around her and she continued to grow and grow, the pressure of her enlarging body against the glass was beginning to suffocate her, she needed air! And then the strangest feeling, like glass passing through her brain without cutting her, and she was suddenly on her hands and knees gasping for air. Which there wasn’t much of, as the dark room she’d just be born into was humid and thick with perfume.          

She could hear someone coughing beside her. It was Nora, also on her hands and knees. Everyone else had arrived in the room as well, apparently at the same time. Moll, the only one unaffected by the unpleasant transition, stood smiling.

“ Ah, we are indeed late. I had thought there’d be a welcome party. Never mind!” And she began to march out of the round shaped, heavily carpeted room. They had to climb out a trap door and it soon became obvious they were in a very high tower, having to walk for what seemed like forever down winding staircases. The pictures on the walls were clearly magical, as they moved and seemed to whisper about their appearance. It was oddly dark and quiet, which unnerved Miranda greatly.

Arriving in a long corridor, much better lit than the winding staircase, Moll paused, looking about. She tapped her foot, thinking.

“ Follow me.” And she continued to make her way through the enormous castle-like structure. The Tilson kids hadn’t known what to expect of Hogwarts, other than it was old and British. The grandeur around them seemed too stereotypical of European magic to be true. In comparison to the plain, cool, intimacy of Tilson’s wooded campus, the enormous, sprawling yet somehow warm, castle made them feel rather small.

               Down several more staircases that rather annoyingly shifted of their own accord, but somehow Moll navigated with ease, they could hear what sounded like someone giving an address. Towards the bottom of the staircase, on what finally seemed like a main floor, there were large doors leading to some sort of dining hall. A calm but firm voice rang through the hall.

Closer now, they could see it was full of people. So many people Miranda felt she rather head back on up to the perfumed tower. But Moll was beckoning them, with a delighted look on her face, heading right through towards the hall.

               “ Oh god.” Mira heard Nora mumble, and she exchanged a sympathetic glance with her. Rina, however, seemed to be buzzing with excitement. An old man with a long white beard and a pointy wizard’s hat was standing before the many people, seated at four long tables, giving a speech. Before him was an unremarkable cup, except for the blue flames, wavering hypnotically from an unknown source within. He seemed to be the one mid speech, but had stopped upon the sight of them. His face broke out in a small smile.

               “ A yes. And our fourth school. You were not terribly lost, were you, Matron Moll?” And every pair of eyes in the hall turned to them. Mira’s hand naturally raised to her half missing eyebrow, brushing it self-consciously.

               “ Not at all, just a bit of a mix up with the time difference!” Called Moll down the hall.

               “ Very well. Please, seat yourselves before I continue.” He gestured across the hall warmly and Moll made her way to a table full of older people Miranda assumed were the professors here and left them standing awkwardly in the massive doorway.

               Hundreds of pairs of eyes were on them. Upon a glace, Miranda could see everyone here was dressed in black uniform. No… there was also pale blue silk, and some blood red looking getups… Those must be the other schools, she thought. A look at the big table up in front told her it wasn’t only the students in funny robes, the teachers had on even more ridiculous outfits. Fancy embroidered dresses, cloaks and hats. In their, what they now realized was probably thought of as “muggle”, clothing and general shabbiness from having spent two weeks in the bush, they looked rather out of place.

               Moll seemed to feel no discomfort at their collective shabbiness and was happy to sit at the end of the teachers table, a man with a limp having brought her a chair.

               “ So do we like… Just sit down then?” Rina whispered to them.

               “ There doesn’t really seem like there’s any room?” Replied Nora, clearly very uncomfortable.

               Chel, annoyed by the indecision, marched to the nearest table, which had a gold and black banner with a badger on it, and said very plainly, “ do you mind?” The students there quickly stammered no they did not mind and made room for the six of them at the end.

Liam flashed them a thankful smile which had several girls already blushing. Miranda nudged him. “ What?” He whispered back.

“ We’ve only been here two minutes, don’t start flirting until you’ve at least washed that dirt of your chin.” She chided, voice serious, but jokingly meant.

“ I wasn’t flirting!” He exclaimed, unconsciously beginning to rub his chin, but couldn’t say anything further for the man had begun his speech again.

“ As I was saying before the arrival of our most welcome guests, and newest addition to the tournament, anyone who wishes to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the Goblet. Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the Goblet will return the names of those deemed to be most worthy, to represent their schools. The Goblet will be placed in the entry hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete. To ensure that no underage students yields to temptation, I will be drawing an age line around the Goblet of Fire. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.”

All of the Tilson kids tensed immediately. Miranda was only fifteen, why did Moll drag her halfway across the world in order to have her sit and watch? She knew five of them would be sitting and watching anyways, but why wouldn’t Moll, y’know, bring another student _who had a chance maybe?_ Chel, Onyx and just barely Liam were of age, Nora would be about a month after the names were chosen, but that didn’t count, did it?

The man went on with his speech; “ Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the Goblet constitutes a binding magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are whole heartedly ready to play, before you drop your name into the Goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Goodnight to you all.”

The Tilson students didn’t know what to do. Not only because they had no idea where bed was for them, but also because they’d just learned that half of them were considered underage for the tournament. They looked at each other with uneasiness as everyone around them got up to leave the hall. Nobody wanted to speak their dilemma aloud with all the people around them, an unspoken agreement formed that they wouldn’t bring it up until they had Moll alone.

“ Do you know where you’re staying tonight?” Asked a sharp looking girl with what might have been a Scottish accent. She was dressed in black robes with a bright golden yellow lining, and had been sitting near them at the table.

“ No.” Onyx volunteered when nobody else knew how to respond.

“ Have you eaten?” Another few students from the table were also gathering around. Miranda felt anxious. In the busyness of the past two weeks she hadn’t had much time to consider how many new people she might have to meet, and dawning on her now, she didn’t like the idea. The girl looked like she was about to make a suggestion of some kind when Moll appeared in the thick of the crowd.

“ Well, there we have it! Follow me, we’ve missed some vital information due to my terrible timekeeping.” And she disappeared towards the front of the hall again.

Reluctantly, they followed her, pushing their way through a very inquiring crowd.

 

~~~

               They were given golden plates with heaps of food. As internally they still felt it was early afternoon, and not passing eight o’clock, none of them were particularly hungry. It could have also been the shock of how many people they’d just had to face, how little they seemed to belong there, and the uncertainty if half of them would be going home tonight.  Moll didn’t look at any of her students in the eye, but they could all tell from the playful expression she knew exactly what they were thinking. They remained silent, they would bring this up later…

               Professor Dumbledore, the old man who’d addressed the school, explained to them what they had missed. A prickly seeming man named Bartimus Crouch and Moll seemed to know each other, but by the physical distance he was trying to put between them, it seemed he would rather he didn’t. She took no notice and continued to chat happily with another man named Ludo Bagman. Cheerful enough, violently shook hands with each potential champion but immediately took a bias to Chel.

               “ Ah, you look like a flyer. Quidditch player?” He asked, almost shaking her arm off.

               “ I fly. But we don’t have Quidditch.” She responded, a little put off by his enthusiasm.

               He didn’t notice however, “ No Quidditch? At a magical school, no Quidditch?” He seemed completely flabbergast, turning to Moll for an explanation immediately, but still holding Chel’s hand. “ Matron Moll, this young lady tells me you don’t play Quidditch at Tilson?”

               Chel yanked her hand out of his, scowling. Miranda didn’t even know what Quidditch was, let alone why it was such a big deal. Rina, however, seemed just as anxious for an explanation as Bagman was.

               A few other professors flitted in and out of the room, asking Dumbledore or Crouch questions. They all observed Moll with a degree of curiosity, and some of it didn’t seem to stem from a kindly place. Miranda wondered why; it made her feel more anxious. The rest of her peers seemed to be in similar states of anxiety, except for Rina, who chatted happily with Bagman about this Quidditch thing.

               After what seemed like hours of waiting for Moll to finish discussing arrangements, first with Dumbledore, then with a ginormous man called Hagrid, they were led, past the flaming cup, and outside of the castle.

               “ Normally we wouldn’t let students into the forest. Got a lot of dangerous stuff in there, but Dumbledore tells me yer students are used to that?” He spoke in a booming voice to Moll as they descended the front steps.

“ Tilson is in the woods, yes. All sorts of magical beings pestering them day and night.” Miranda wasn’t looking at her, but she felt like Moll was eyeing her when she spoke that last part. “ Although I did hear this forest is particularly untame.”

“ I never had any real trouble, but I’d warn ya not to stray too far in, not being used to it and all.” He cautioned. He seemed to be wary, and Miranda could tell he possessed a reference for the forest, and an equal doubt they would possess the same level of respect.

Descending more stairs down the grounds they could see a dark forest, tangled and tall, behind a small cabin and a powder blue carriage. There was also a paddock for winged horses the size of elephants. They looked restless in the small space, Mira felt for them.

They passed the cabin, Hagrid grabbing a large lantern from over the front door, and began towards the forest. Moll gave them a look as she removed her wand and illuminated it. They all followed her lead, entering the dark woods.

The woods of Tilson, in comparison to these, were sparse and straight. Easily navigated and allowed plenty of light to filter through, when it was available so far north. Here, the woods were much denser, seemed to creak and sway with potential threat. It was hard not to be intimidated. They were all wondering what the hell they were doing, wondering into them at ten o’clock at night.

“ I’ve spoken to some o’ the creatures here, and there not too happy with the intrusion… but they agreed to let ya be. It’s no guarantee though.” Hagrid said in a cautionary voice, the more they ventured into the woods, the more unfond he seemed of them being there.

“ We’ll manage, Hagrid. There’s no need to stress on our behalf.” Moll said gently, just as they rounded a bend in the path and a faint glow could be made out in a clearing ahead of them.

Seven dinky looking tents and a fire pit were before them, illuminated by torches that surrounded the clearing.

“ Here y’are.” Said Hagrid, stopping.

“ Lovely. Thank you, Hagrid. We won’t keep you any longer.”

He rocked back and forth on his enormous heels, lingering a moment, “well, just give me a holler should you need anything.” And he seemed to be implying something more, but ambled back the way they’d came without clarifying.

After their experience with the sugar shack, they could only assume these dinky little tents were as non-magical as that had been. But that wasn’t the pressing issue on their minds. They stood remarkably still, not daring to begin a conversation until Hagrid’s heavy footfalls could no longer be heard in the distance. The light from the torches cast flickering shadows across them, it would have been an eerie sight for anyone to stumble upon.

Once the sound disappeared, Rina lit the fire with a lazy flick of her wand and said “ Excuse me for asking, but why did you drag us out here if there was no chance of competing?” Rina was polite in her tone, but she couldn’t keep the hint of annoyance out. Miranda knew that Rina had wanted to be the champion, had been envisioning it since the second the tournament was announced to them all the way back in the north western woods.

               “ Age is subjective, my children.” Moll said nonchalantly, making her way towards the now blazing fire.

               Chel snorted, “I don’t think that age line is.”

               “ Are you suggesting they cheat?” Mused Liam.

               “ Of course not. I would never,” Moll laughed, taking a seat on one of the logs surrounding the fire “ All I’m saying here is there is no official documentation of Rina, Nora or Miranda’s ages, nor do I intend on giving any.”

               “ So, since nobody knows our ages… You think it won’t matter?” Rina suggested, sounding a little hopeful, making her own way to a seat.

               “ No, no, nothing so simple.”

               “ So an age potion then.” Said Rina, disappointed again. They all knew Dumbledore’s line wouldn’t be fooled that easily.

               “ That would also be too simple, dear Rina.” Moll sighed, “ how many experiences have you each had, individually?”

               “ What do you mean?” Miranda asked, when everyone was silent.

               “ You’ve all been dream walking. You’ve all plunged into magical depths rather… inaccessible, over here.” Moll paused, thoughtfully.

               “ So… essentially you’re saying, we are older?” Nora said slowly, after her own pause.

               “ Precisely!” Moll beamed. “ Or more that age is nothing so physical.”

               So they’d been through a lot in their dreams… What did that change, hadn’t anybody? Miranda was thinking this but Moll seemed to anticipate it before she had a chance to voice it.

               “ Trust me. The age line won’t be a problem.”

               Miranda, and she assumed everyone else, didn’t believe her. But they were here anyways, weren’t they? Might as well try.

~~

               Next morning, they all filed up to the castle to enter their names. There was a crowd of course, and they watched silently as the Durmstrang students entered their names.

               They hadn’t said anything but it seemed only practical that those of them of actual age enter their names in first. Chel did so with lazy confidence, as if she knew she’d be chosen, and Onyx dropped hers in after with a graceful flick of her hand.

               When Liam went to enter his name after a thoughtful pause _as if he wouldn’t enter his name_ thought Miranda with a scoff, he approached the line at the exact same time as one of the Hogwarts students in yellow and black robes.

               “ You first.” They both said at the same time. The other guy was similar to Liam, Miranda noticed. Tall, devilishly handsome, but kind looking. She also noticed how they were being glanced at and checked out a lot more frequently than anyone else in the hall… _To be a hot boy_ , she thought solemnly, shaking her head.

               After a brief moment of side stepping they both entered the circle together, dropping their names in. Liam, being the friendliest of the Tilson kids, was quick to make the acquaintance with one _Cedric Diggory._ Miranda pegged Cedric as the Hogwarts champion, it seemed only natural, with his white boy good looks, and it was probable that Liam would get it too.

               As Miranda was judging how likely it was that she would get rejected by this line, Nora surprised them and approached casually, as if she had no worry that it would throw her across the room, crossed it, dropped her name in, and walked back without a flicker of emotion in her face. Rina shrugged at this and hurried across herself, launching her name and returning with a smug look when she wasn’t denied.

               Miranda waited cautiously. The others had made it across, but what if she still didn’t? What if her dreams hadn’t been deep enough?  Although she knew the opposite was true.

               Liam nudged her, “As if you’re going to come all this way and not put your name in.” He said amused.

               “ I’m getting cold feet.” Was all she could think. What if she actually _was_ chosen? All of the sudden, that prospect was a lot more troublesome than being rejected by some line.

               “ Come on, I need to have _some_ competition for which of us will be chosen.” Liam joked, but Chel glared ice at him and he quickly composed himself.

               “ I don’t know.” Miranda said slowly, and she put the paper with her name on it back into her pocket. “ I’m going to think about it some more.”

               “ Well, you’ll have to choose soon.” Huffed Chel, before marching back out towards their camp. They all followed, none of them particularly fond of the gazes from the other students were giving them and their, apparently, strange attire.

               “ I’m not sure this is going to work, you know.” A girl, maybe a little younger than herself, was saying beside her. A gaggle of people were surrounded there, many of them sporting red hair. “ I’m sure Dumbledore would have thought of this.”

               It caught Miranda’s interest, instinctively she grabbed Liam’s sleeve, slowing them both to a stop. He gave her a confused look but she nodded her head towards the commotion and they both watched as two of the red-headed boys, twins by the looks of it, and another boy, approached the line.

               “ Ready?” Said one of the twins. “ Come on then, I’ll go first.” The boy pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket, took a deep breath, and stepped over the line. By the triumphant screech of the other twin, and excited jump after, Miranda took it they were under seventeen. However, unlike the three underage Tilson students, a sizzle and then a bang had the two boys tossed across the room with beards erupting from their chins. Immediately, everyone present cried out in laughter.

               Liam and Mira, although amused by the scene, were clearly shocked. The only person to notice the Tilson students not joining in on the laughter, before sauntering away in hushed conversation, was the same girl who’d warned the twins their plan wasn’t going to work.


	6. Greenhouse

The dinky tents were magical after all. The clearing they were in left a fair view of the sky and after seeing the space in the light of day, Mira got over her discomfort at being there. Inside her tent, as they’d each been assigned one, was a camp bed, a desk and chair, a woodstove with a kettle, a small bathroom, a dresser, a closet. It was simple and plain, but it was better than sharing hammocks in the sugar shack. It was about the same amount of space they’d be given in any dorm at Tilson, except no roommate to share it with. The previous night had been a restless one for them all. The unfamiliar sounds of the forest echoing into their dreams.

               Moll got up to setting a sheltered area, something of an outdoor classroom, she said. She was looking over some plans on a long wooden table underneath the shelter when they returned from the castle.

               “ Go alright?” She asked them, without looking up.

               “ Amazingly, no conflict.” Said Chel.

               “ Mira didn’t add her name.” Said Rina thoughtlessly, and Miranda glared at her. “ Oh sorry.” She mumbled, realizing she’d potentially created a confrontation. And Moll did look up at that, gazing at Miranda, frowning only slightly, but didn’t say anything. She stood up straight, lifting her hands from the pages she’d been looking at which rolled up with a snap.

               “ It’s going to be a tricky year. As all of you are in different levels of study, and I am the only teacher at your disposal, it has been a complicated process preparing for your education. I’ve decided the best course of action is to mainly leave you to it.” Moll gazed up at the forest around them. “ We’ll continue our efforts in spell craft. The dreaming, however… Not so applicable in this landscape, it feels. Pity. But never mind. I’m going over the details with Professor Sprout on setting you up each your own greenhouse.”

               “ Professor Sprout’s actually someone’s name?” Chel snorted. Moll just grinned and nodded.

               “ Our own greenhouse?” Nora asked quietly.

               Moll turned to look at her, “ Yes. Herbology will remain our primary focus, and we’ll set it up so we can brew potions directly there as well. We’ll take the opportunity of location to learn about another set of plant life while we’re here.” She paused, pursing her lips. “ They’ve agreed to give us some access to the astronomy tower to continue our star mapping. And, as we’re in the thick of it, I have no doubt some magical creatures will make their way to us.” Moll beamed at them.

               The prospect of having an entire greenhouse to herself was riveting to Mira. Even having her own tent was a pleasant surprise, one she greatly preferred to shared quarters. Initially being shoved into the vast crowds of Hogwarts had been alarming, but given this quiet space, she coming around to the idea of staying here.

               Moll went on explaining, “ I dare say, we’ll be even less regimented than at our dear Tilson. I think a teach as things happen mentality suits the environment quite nicely. However, we will have scheduled lectures, and examinations. As our curriculum differs, whichever one of you becomes champion, shall not be exempt.” And she gave a toothy grin with a usual twinkle in her eye. “ I’m off to make those greenhouse arrangements. The day is yours, but remember, feast and champion selection this evening.” And Moll disappeared down the twisting path to the rest of the grounds.

               “ The day is ours? What the hell is there to do anyways?” Moaned Chel, lying down on her back on a bench, her usual position.

               “ Are you kidding? There’s an entire castle? A lake! This forest! And, and a fucking Quidditch pitch!” Rina was practically jumping out of her socks. Chel raised her eyebrow at the last, but Mira couldn’t tell if in disdain or interest.

               “ I think I’ll go to the library.” Mused Nora.

               “ That sounds like a very nice time, Nora.” Said Rina in a way that was attempting to be pleasant but clearly not coming from a place of empathy, “ I’m gonna check this pitch out, Chel are you in? I was at the cup this summer and my god--”

               “ I’ll come if you shut up.” And Chel begrudgingly followed Rina’s lead of grabbing their brooms and heading for whatever this Quidditch pitch was. Nora walked with them, heading for the library.

               “ What’s Quidditch?” Mira asked, once Rina was out of earshot. She hadn’t wanted to ask while she was there because she knew she’d get a wide-eyed _you don’t know?_ reaction.  Liam wasn’t much better though.

               “ Only the most famous wizarding game there is.” He snorted.

               “ I take it flying is involved?” Mira asked, ignoring his tone.

               “ Yep. Flying, beating, dodging, scoring, catching. I guess it’s like… Um, rugby, soccer and baseball mixed together, in the air and… magical. I don’t know.” He shrugged. “ Only ever watched muggle sports with my dad.”

               “ They play it in North America too.” Onyx added, “ but it’s not as big a deal.”

               “ What are you two gonna get up to today then?” Liam asked them both.

               Onyx shrugged, “ Probably go to the lake. It’s not the ocean, but it’s there.” She was not very enthusiastic.

               “ And you, Mira?”

               “ Hide in my tent, I think.” She said sulkily.

               “ Nah, you can’t do that.” He said casually. “ Come with me to the greenhouses. I think they rival our own.”

               “ What does _that_ mean?” Miranda raised an eyebrow at him, referencing his frequent midnight meet ups with Soren in the greenhouse back home.

               He was confused at first but then understanding dawned on him and he spluttered, “ I didn’t, I didn’t mean like that! I just, you like plants, don’t you? You can’t spend your first day here in a tent.”

               “ I think she can do what she likes.” Quipped Onyx, before disappearing into her own tent.

               “ Of course you can do what you like. But… I mean, if you stay in your tent all day today next thing you know it’s been all year and you never left.”

               “ What, are you going to lock me in?”

               “ No, of course not. Just… Patterns of comfort form easily and are hard to break! And uhh… I really don’t want to go alone.”

               She wasn’t sure when her friendship with Liam had begun. When they’d both been selected potential champion? When she’d caught him with Soren and not told anyone? The two weeks at the sugar shack trying to jelly-legs each other? She didn’t know, but she was comfortable enough with him. And she did like weird magical plants quite a lot…

               “ If I come this once promise to let me retreat into lonerism when I please?”

               “ I promise to cut the amount of times I’d pester you in half?”

               She rolled her eyes and followed him out of the clearing. When they were alone on the path he asked her “ So… Why didn’t you put your name in?”

               She only shrugged.

               “ You’ve got no real reason?”

               “ I just wanted to get out, I guess.”

               “ Of Tilson.”

               “ Yeah… Um, well… yeah, that’s it.” She considered adding more information but their friendship was still unsure, seemingly only circumstantial, so decided she better not.

               “ Well I think you should. You’d make a good champion.”

               Mira laughed but then realized he hadn’t been joking. “ I wouldn’t. I really wouldn’t. I’d either get my ass kicked or scare everyone to death.”

               Liam shrugged this time, “ maybe that’s alright.”

They dropped the subject after that but Mira kept thinking about it as the conversation moved onto other things. Other things being mostly uncomfortable silence, until they got to the greenhouse and could use guessing what plants were what as a distraction.

After peaking at some particularly gnarly looking mandrake roots they ran into a short, squat professor with curly grey hair, talking animatedly to Moll. She grinned at her two students.

“ Professor Sprout, may I introduce you to two of my students, Liam Tam and Miranda Zellick. Both quite the committed herbologists, I have to brag.”

“ Oh really? Lovely to meet you.” And they both shook a dirty gloved hand. “ So nice that Tilson has such a strong focus on plant knowledge.”

“ Indeed. Now, sorry Professor Sprout, but I do believe we’ve finalized our arrangements? I need to speak to Liam here for a moment.”

“ Of course, not to worry. I’ll send you my extra soil supply as soon as I can locate it, ha!” And Professor Sprout turned around in search of something, perhaps the soil, eyes landing on an awkward looking freckled boy with bad teeth. Moll whisked Liam aside and began speaking to him in a hushed voice as Professor Sprout introduced Miranda to the boy.

“ Miranda was it? Yes, this is one of my top students here, Neville Longbottom!” She said proudly, placing a hand on his shoulder and leaving behind a patch of dirt. He didn’t seem to notice, as he was watching Mira with a mixture of shock and horror.

“ N-n-nice to m-meet you.” He squeaked out nervously.

“ Nice to meet you too, Neville.” Something about his nervousness comforted Miranda.

“ I suppose you two are quite some years apart, being as you’re of competing age, but Neville is extremely interested in North American plant species, aren’t you Neville?” Neville seemed horrified by the idea of having to talk about that with Mira, so she tried to give him her warmest smile. “ Maybe you could share a bit of knowledge? That’s what this whole international tournament thing is all about!”

“ I… I do like.. plants.” He stammered. Professor Sprout just laughed and walked off to do something else, leaving the two of them starring at each other awkwardly. Miranda figured they actually weren’t as far apart in age as Sprout had assumed.

               “ North American plants specifically?” Miranda asked, trying to calm the poor guy down.

               He gulped, “ Yes. Er, um, no, I like… them all.” He was blushing now.

               “ So do I. Used to spend double time in our greenhouse to avoid my charms homework.” Miranda joked, she was happy when he smiled in response.

               “ I-I’ve done the same.”

               Liam returned to Miranda’s side, finished speaking about whatever it was with Moll. “ Making new friends?” He said, smiling at both of them.

               Mira resisted the urge to scowl at him, “ this is Neville. He likes plants.”

               “ Oh good. I’m Liam.” Liam shook his hand and Neville seemed like he might pass out. Liam didn’t seem to notice and turned to Mira. “ Anyway, Moll just told me about something in the castle I wanted to check out, wanna head up there?”

               Mira shrugged but went towards the door with him. “ See ya around, Neville.”

               “ Yeah… See ya..”

 

~~

               Liam seemed a little weird the entire walk up to the castle and when they got to entrance his agitation increased.

               “ What’s going on with you?” Mira asked him.

               “ Uh, nothing. I’m just getting nervous for tonight.”

               “ Right.”

               “ You wanna put your name in? The Goblet’s right there.” He said motioning to it. Fewer student were milling around then this morning, but a couple still lingered.

               Miranda stopped walking. “ Is Moll trying to get you to convince me to put my name in?”

               Liam looked guilty, didn’t make eye contact, “ What? No. Noooo. Okay, a bit? Sorta? She didn’t say it like that.”

               “ So how did she say it?”

               “ She was just wondering if you said why not. That’s all. She seemed a little concerned but she wasn’t pressing it.”

               “ Then why are you leading me up here?” Miranda didn’t know if she should be annoyed, angry or confused.

               “ Because I want you to put it in! I’m obsessed with hierarchies and I want to see if this flaming blue cup thing thinks I’m better than you!” Liam exaggerated, hand on his forehead.

               “ No. Not convinced.” Very deep down, deeper than where she’d be able to admit it, she wanted to put her name in. Even though she didn’t believe in champions, or think she’d ever be chosen, a small part of her just wanted to know.

               “ Chel would like to know.”

               “ I don’t think that’s healthy for her.” Miranda shrugged, beginning to walk away. Liam lightly pulled at her sleeve and stepped in front of her.

               “ Oh, it’s not. But like… You came all this way. And, don’t you, just want to know?” He attempted to look in her eye inquiringly, seeking something Mira didn’t want him to see.

               “ I’ll get rejected by the line.” She pushed him aside, although she didn’t really know where she was trying to get to, just anywhere away from this conversation.

               “ Nora and Rina didn’t. You’re definitely more mature than Rina, nothing against her.”

               “ I don’t know.”

               Liam stopped trying to block her, letting her fall a few paces ahead. “ Are you refusing to put it in because it’s easier not to face the disappointment of not being chosen? Because then you’ll never have the chance of knowing if Moll asked you here by mistake?”

               She turned towards him, eye narrowing slightly. “ Stop psychoanalysing me Liam, you barely know me.”

               “ I know, but I like you.” He shrugged. “ I think you’ll get it. And so does Moll… And Onyx.”

               “ Onyx?” Mira wasn’t convinced, but the mention nonetheless made her feel a certain, unnameable way.

               “ Yeah.”

               “ She didn’t say that.” Mira shook her head.

               “ Nope, but I can tell. In the way she doubts Chel.”

               “ That makes no sense, Liam”

               “ No, it doesn’t. I made it up, but I think… I think you kinda want to impress her, don’t you?” He was prodding now, trying to push any button he could.

               “ Wow, you’re really pulling out all the stops.”

               “ Think of how cool young Neville will think you are!” He beamed at her.

               “ He’s already about to faint in our presence,” Mira sighed.

               “ And imagine, now he actually will.”

               “ Making people _faint?_ I’ve been there before, Liam.” Mira growled.

               “ Right. Sorry, that was dumb. But he’d be fainting for completely different reasons.”

               “ I don’t want to make anyone faint!” Exasperation tinged her voice.

               “ So make them swoon.”

               “ What is your issue? Don’t you want to be champion yourself?”

               “ Hell yeah I do. But I know it’s not me. It’s either you, Onyx or Chel. And I can’t stand the idea of it being Chel. She’ll be so…”

               “ Superior?”

               “ Yep. Fuck that.”

               “ If she’s the best she’s the best.”

               “ We won’t know if you don’t put in your name,” Liam winked.

               “ Fuck off.”

               “ I’ll put it in for you.”

               “ Will you leave me alone if I put it in?”

               “ Yup. I’ll leave you alone for days.”

               “ Fine, I’ll fucking put it in.”

               “ Excellent.” And Liam promptly removed a scarp of parchment and quill from his pocket and handed it to her. She furiously scribbled her name and school down, crumpled it up, stomped across the age line and launched it into the cup with considerably force. It caused a spurt of sparks to fly out, making a couple first years walking by jump.

               She marched out of the circle, “ happy?”

               “ Ecstatic. I can’t wait for you to be our champion. Except… I do actually think it will be me.” He grinned toothily before Mira shoved him.

               “ Just testing out if you can manipulate me?”

               “ And turns out I can.”

               “ Fuck off.”

               “ No, this is turning point in our friendship. Before I would have called us friendly acquaintances, but now we’re definitely friends.”

               “ God I’m blessed to have a friend like you!” Miranda tossed her arms up to the sky, head thrown back in mock bliss, and then snapping back down again, “ you know, I could have told everyone about Soren…”

               “ But I know now you’d never.” Chipper, and then suddenly down,  “And besides, Soren and me are over.”

               “ Oh?” Mira heard the change in his voice.

               “ yeah… He wasn’t… well, he was really into me being a potential champion at first, but kinda just to claim it I think… Got real cold right before we left for Quebec.”

               “ Oh, that’s shit... He didn’t seem like the notch in the bedpost type.” And she did really feel sorry for Liam.

               “ No… I don’t… I don’t think he is in the long run, but hey, he’s sixteen, what can ya do?” He tried to nonchalant but his eyes were still sad.

               “ Cry about it a bit?” Mira suggested.

               “ Oh I did. I really did.”


	7. The Five Champions

Somewhere between the castle and their camp a group of curious Hogwarts students had attempted to engage Mira and Liam in conversation. And as Liam was always happily acquainted with new people, it was only natural that he fell into chatting with them, and even more natural for Miranda to slip away quietly.

               When she returned to the camp only Nora was there, reading a book that looked like it was as heavy as her, in front of the fire pit.

               “ Library okay?” Mira asked absentmindedly, taking her own seat by the fire.

               “ Impressive.” Nora stated, not looking up at first but then something dawned on her and she looked over at the other girl, “ Why don’t we have uniforms, do you think?”

               “ I don’t know. I never thought about it until we got here.” Mira shrugged. She had been noticing a lot of gaping and staring, at their clothing in particular, but she’d been trying her best to avoid it.

               “ I just… Some students were questioning me.” Nora looked back into her book, but discomfort rang through her stiff posture.

               “ About why we’re all… muggle-y?”

               “ Yes…” Nora closed her book now.

               “ I didn’t know there was such a huge divide in the… the fashion here. It’s just sort of… uncomfortable being so obviously different.”

               Mira didn’t want to come out and ask if Nora was pureblood, but she was getting the sense it was so. Coming to a rigorous magical school after growing up in the suburbs was a culture shock. Growing up in the suburbs being the only one who could make stones hover above the grass to trip your kid nemesis didn’t endear you to tightknit social circles. Mira was used to the feeling of outcast, and not only because she’d poisoned half of her former school’s dreams.

               “ You’ll get used to it.” Mira shrugged, but thought better of it. “ Or they will. Maybe. It might suck all year, honestly.”

               Nora sighed, “ Yeah, I figured it would. It’s just a stupid small thing anyway.” And she opened her giant volume and started reading again.

               Mira watched her for a moment. She could tell that Nora was trying to play her discomfort off, and if Mira wasn’t the kind of person to do the exact same, she might have believed that Nora wasn’t bothered by _a stupid small thing_.

               She hadn’t really considered Nora as ever making champion. She was quiet, but unlike Onyx, who’s presence you’d only become more aware of the less she spoke, she could disappear into the background. She was bookish, but not by the book, now that Miranda thought about it.  Often her magic was inventive, she possessed a deeply creative side, that often outwitted those around her, in the most subtle way. Mira wondered if maybe these were the perfect qualities for champion.

               Just then Rina rushed into the clearing screaming and jumping, “ Krum fucking goes here! I fucking just met Viktor Krum! I flew with him, holy shit!”

               Chel followed in after her, without the shouting and jumping.

               “ He’s still a student?” Asked Nora, who obviously knew who he was, unlike Miranda.

               “ Yup. Gonna be the Durmstrang champion likely. Because being renowned seeker of the century isn’t enough.” Chel was playing it cool, but there was the faintest hint of excitement behind her words.

               “ Thought he would have been older.” Mused Nora, not terribly interested.

Rina was still jumping up and down yelling when Moll came into the clearing a moment later.     “ Moll! Moll! Moll! Viktor Krum! He’s here!”

Moll looked around the clearing, “ is he?”

Rina stopped jumping, “ not here, here. But he’s here, here for the tournament.”

               “ Interesting.” Mira couldn’t tell if Moll knew who he was or not, “ we’ll be heading up to the castle soon for the feast.”

               “ I gotta get outta these sweaty clothes!” Yelled Rina, making a dash for her tent. Chel went to do the same.

               “ Is there a dress code?” Asked Nora.

               “ Not that I’m aware of.” Said Moll absently, “ are Liam and Onyx around?”

               “ Liam’s making friends. Onyx went to the lake, I think.” Replied Miranda.

               “ Ah well, I’m sure they’ll find their way.”

~~~~

               Although she’d made her way up to the castle twice earlier in the day, she hadn’t taken much stock of what was around her. Looking up at it now, as the sun was setting, it struck her how massively different it was from home. How massively different the whole year would be, no matter who was champion. The novelty of the landscape filled her simultaneously with a giddy rush and dread, resulting in her usual deadpan facial expression.

               Onyx had joined them again moments before making the trudge up to the castle, and upon entering what they now knew of as the great hall, Mira could see Liam cozying up with some of the Hogwarts students, maybe the same ones they’d run into together but maybe not. She rolled her eyes just as he looked up. He grinned at her, excused himself from his new friends, the people who wore blue, whatever that meant, and joined the Tilson kids at the yellow table, apparently their spot now.

               “ I figured out the colours.” He announced upon sitting down, between Miranda and Rina, who was craning her neck to get a look at this Krum again.

               “ That’s great Liam, you know colour wheel stuff is pretty grade one in the muggle world, but I suppose as a wizard--” Miranda began, causing Chel to snort and Onyx to smile, just barely.

               “ Shut up, Mira. The houses, the tables.”

               “ The houses. The tables.” She repeated, not looking at him but towards the teachers table, where the flaming cup had been moved to.  He began to explain the Hogwarts house and point system, to the best of his ability, with a couple of the Hufflepuffs sitting near them, as they learned they were called, chiming in and answering further questions. Miranda only paid partial attention, feeling an impending sense of anxiety about the champion selection. _What if she actually was chosen?_ Now that the moment was here, she was regretting allowing Liam to manipulate her into participating.

               The feast began with the plates filling, but there was a nervous excitement buzzing in the air. For the entire meal everyone was on edge, anticipating the ceremony. By the end of it Mira had a cold feeling inside, she knew it was going to be her. She didn’t think it was right or well deserved, and she supressed the feeling, chalking it up to a twisted sense of egoism she must possess.  

It felt like a year before Dumbledore stood up to address them, giving out basic instructions for whoever was selected. The room went dark but for the jack-o’-lanterns glinting eerily above them. The cup seemed to suck all the air into the room, a final inhale before coming to its decision… And an eruption of red sparks, a smoking piece of paper flitting into the headmaster’s outreached hand.

He held it out before him and called the Durmstrang champion, Viktor Krum. Rina was not the only student to lose her mind. Although the greatest applause was from the students in red robes, many of the Hogwarts students seemed unable to contain their excitement at this, apparently, he was big news. Mira clapped politely.

And then the Beauxbaton’s champion was selected. Fleur, classically stunning, graceful as a leaf on the wind. And Hogwarts… Mira smirked, she’d been right. The handsome boy, from the very table they sat at, stood up. The Tilson kids almost got tossed off the bench from how violently the students were screaming around them.

And then… Mira was filled with the most awful sense of dread, she didn’t even look up at Dumbledore but rather stared blankly at the table. Rina’s anticipation was bristling beside her.  Red sparks… “ Miranda Zellick of Tilson.”

She stood up without looking at anyone and walked briskly towards the doorway they’d been instructed to go through. She did not hear if people cheered or not and she did not feel any emotion other than maybe the faintest echo of disappointment. She’d deal with that later. Right now, she needed to get away from all these _people._

When she got into the room the other three were standing around the fireplace, looking like a photograph. They turned towards her, inquiringly.

“ Hello.” She said, without any emotion.

Krum just stared at her bleakly, and she was glad he didn’t want to talk. Fleur raised an eyebrow at her, and, she might have been imagining it, but she swore she saw a flicker of disappointment on Cedric’s face, before he quickly covered it with a warm smile.

“ Mira, was it?” He asked softly.

“ Yes.” Liam must have told him…

“ Cedric.” He held out his hand to shake, which she did, and then proceeded to do so with the other champions.   _Champions. God fuck, I don’t want to be called that_ Mira thought, the reality slowly settling in. She felt she might throw up. An electric shock ran through her hand when she touched Fleur, and she ripped herself away a little too quickly. Fleur noticed and gave her a strange look she couldn’t quite read but made no comment.

Just then the door opened again and in walked in a scrawny looking mess of a young boy. Well, he was probably only a year or two younger than Mira, but nobody but her knew that. He stared at them, apparently very startled, and Fleur asked him if he was supposed to be delivering a message. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out, he seemed at even more of a loss than Mira herself and she felt bad for him.

_Something probably happened._ It wasn’t really a conscious thought she formed, but it was there. And then there was burst of people through the doorway all exclaiming and talking over each other.

Something had definitely happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk idk idk


	8. Sleepy Conspiracy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is this Harry anyway?

Ludo Bagman was the one to address them first. He swept the shocked looking boy by the arm towards them and said, “ Incredible as though it may seem, let me introduce the  _fifth_ triwizard… Quad, penta? champion.” Bagman seemed astounded, Viktor, Cedric and Fleur showed varying degrees of bewilderment, suspicion, and general unhappiness. The boy himself was pale and more blank of expression than even Miranda.

Fleur thought it was a joke. Bagman said no, the kid’s name, which was apparently Harry, had come out of the Goblet all the same as them, and, due to the binding magical contract, was locked into competing the same as the rest of them, no matter his age.

“ Madame Maxime,” Fleur was gone across the room now, towards an incredibly tall and immaculate woman discussing rapidly with Dumbledore and the gaggle of other professors, “ they are telling me this  _little boy_ is going to be competing with us?”

Mira saw in Harry’s face a shot of annoyance, probably at being called a little boy. She wondered, if since she was now magically bound and they could do nothing to keep her out of the tournament, if she could admit her age. She smiled at him weakly, trying to convey sympathy, but he didn’t seem to be registering anything visual.

A conversation commenced about the meaning of all this, several people seeming remarkably furious about Hogwarts having two champions. First the anger was directed at Dumbledore and then, one of Hogwarts’ own professors seemed to deflect the blame to Harry himself. It seemed very unprofessional to Mira that a teacher be so openly biased towards a student. She was however impressed with Dumbledore, who seemed the only one to remember that Harry was present.

“ Did you put your name in, Harry?”

“ No.”

“ Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet for you?”

“ No!” The boy seemed increasingly frazzled, Mira could understand why.

“ Ah, but of course ‘e is lying!” Cried the gigantic woman, Madame Maxime or whatever it was.

“ He could not have crossed the age line, I’m sure we are all agreed on that.” Stated a severe looking woman with a tight bun and spectacles resting on a sharp nose that matched her tone of voice.

And then another uproar about a mistake being made with the age line. Mira eyed Harry, who was paying no attention to her gaze whatsoever, wondering if he had walked over the line like she herself had. It was the first time she noticed Moll, quiet and small, but eyes glinting amusedly, standing in the corner. She made eye contact with Miranda and winked. Mira looked away, not enjoying being in on the conspiracy, especially when something she’d so easily thwarted without any acknowledgement from anyone, was causing this poor student, and apparently everyone else, a lot of distress. Drama made Mira shrink.

Eventually Bartimus Crouch put an end to the dispute by very dryly repeating the rules of the tournament, and Bagman bounced on his heels and clapped his hands together, not doing a very good job of concealing his delight over this Harry kid becoming a champion. But, to Mira’s dismay, a rather gnarled figure limped into the room, with a shimmering blue eye that swivelled unsettling around his head, and gave a foreboding speech about the magical contract gluing them all there being convenient. How someone must have put Potter’s name in the Goblet and it was all a conspiracy. Mira couldn’t begin to wonder what he was on about, but it was dawning on her that his dishevelled kid might be someone out of the ordinary. Did he perhaps inflict horrible dreams upon his fellow students, as well? The blue eye of the twisted man landed on her for a moment, despite the chill that ran down her spine she did not look away.

The man then responded to a retort by Fleur that perhaps someone was making an attempt on Harry’s life. Mira’s eyebrows knit, what the hell was going on? Why the hell would someone be plotting for some wimpy looking underage wizard’s death? And if it were so, why the hell would some weirdo man bring it up  _in front_ of the students, especially Harry?

In the tense silence that followed the speculation, Mira and Moll made eye contact once again. Something passed between them and Mira knew that they were thinking the same things, and that they would be speaking about it later. She also had the sense that Moll did know already who this Harry kid was.

               Ludo tried to break the tension, the creepy looking man with what Mira guessed was a Russian, Slavic maybe, accent, made a passive aggressive comment about this Professor Moody being paranoid and turned that around on Dumbledore, and Moody seemed ready, although amusedly, to begin an altercation in response. Mira felt exhausted just watching the exchange, and a quick glance at Cedric, Krum and Harry told her they were feeling the same.

               When Dumbledore announced there was nothing to be done many of the adults in the room seemed to fume, apart from Bagman who beamed and Moll who smiled slightly.

               Miranda felt ready for bed after all the commotion, but then Crouch revived from his silent, statuesque, presence at the back of the room and started, exhaustedly as she felt herself, to explain to them about the first task. She had difficulty tuning in, the conflicted energies of everyone in the room overwhelming her. But finally, finally they were dismissed, with Dumbledore asking the other headmasters if they would be interested in a nightcap, only Moll agreeing.

               “ Cedric, Harry… Miranda. I think you all better get off to bed.” He said, tiredness also present in his calm voice. Mira exchanged a look with Moll while Dumbledore said something more to the two boys, and her eyes said they’d talk later and she then followed the stunned Harry and anxious Cedric out of the room, back into The Great Hall, which was empty and moodily lit by the glowing pumpkin above.

               “ So, we’re playing against each other again.” Said Cedric, clearly to Harry. Mira lingered behind, unsure of what an acceptable goodbye might look like. 

               “ I s’pose.” Piped Harry, who then went silent. Although she couldn’t see his face she could see the boy was lost in spiraling and swirling thoughts.

               “ So tell me, how did you get your name in?” Said Cedric amusedly, but then paused, facing Harry, who also stopped walking. Mira felt like she didn’t have a choice but to stand by the edge of their conversation.

               “ I didn’t!” Harry was adamant. “ I didn’t put it in, I was telling the truth.”

               “ Ah, okay.” And Cedric didn’t really seem to believe him, he made eye contact with Mira, the flickering light glinting in his eyes.

               “ Weren’t you there? Someone’s trying to kill him.” Mira said it because she thought it would be lighthearted, shift the tenseness between the two of them, but as soon as the words tumbled out of her it only seemed to glue their mouths shut. “ Um, I’m Mira.” She said, the only thing she could think of, extending her hand towards Harry.

               “ Harry.” He grumbled.

A haunting premonition of a feeling, the three of them together, came over her. She lifted a finger to her temple, squinting her eyes slightly.

               “ Alright?” Asked Cedric, and she looked up to see him and Harry regarding her with some interest, edging into concern. The feeling passed.

               She exhaled exaggerated, comically almost, smiled slightly and nodded her head. “ Not used to so many dramatics.”

               “ Can’t say the same. Hogwarts is like that.” Cedric grinned at her, but then something in his expression changed when he looked over at Harry, who seemed to be grimacing.

               “ Good luck with the celebrations.” Mira said to them kindly, before taking her leave and heading towards the winding path to their camp. She could feel their eyes lingering on her a moment, and the sensation that she was missing something vital increased.


	9. Serpent's Apothocary

Mira was in no rush to return to the camp. She clung to the hope that the other Tilson students felt as tired by the ordeal as she herself did, but, seeing as they hadn’t been in the room with all the commotion, she figured they would be buzzing with questions, and, although she prayed not, resentment over her being chosen. She knew at least Chel would be furious, and Rina’s disappointment was going to be awful for both of them.

               She dawdled on the steps, lingered near Hagrid’s hut, feigned curiosity in the Beauxbaton’s carriage, but eventually her tiredness persuaded her to take the final steps down the path into the forest. She was still unaccustomed to the darkness that fell around you like a sheet when you entered the path, illuminated only by her faint lumos, and found her lethargic pace quickened.

               She had been right. All five of the other students were still awake, standing or sitting around the fire in idle conversation, flames flickering across their faces. Was Mira imaging that they looked somewhat menacing? She paused at the edge of the clearing, watching for just a moment. Onyx was the first to notice her, making eye contact across the flames. But she didn’t say anything, it was Chel who noticed Onyx’s stare.

               “ So you’ve returned to the rest of us unremarkable students.” She drawled, unimpressed. The other students turned to look at her. Chel’s tone only made her annoyed, giving her half a mind to go straight to her tent without saying anything. Figuring that would only makes things worse later, she joined them at the fire.

               “ Evidently.” Her response was as dry as she could manage.

               Liam broke her expectation of a tense evening by walking over and giving her a warm hug, even lifting her slightly off the ground. “ Congratulations Mira!” He didn’t let go of the hug until Mira responded. “ Can’t lie about being a little jealous, but I’ll get over it.”

               “ Thanks Liam.” She said softly, the first time she’d allowed herself to feel anything positive about becoming champion.

               “ Yes, because it’s better Tilson gets completely humiliated.” Chel mumbled, quite audibly.

               “ Chel.” Onyx voice was soft but the warning was effective.

               “ It makes sense really.” Started Rina, with a little remorse, “ Mira scared the shit out of an entire school last year, she’ll probably fucking destroy these other kids. Except for Krum… and Potter.”

               It was the first time anyone had ever brought Miranda’s dreams up in front of her. At least directly, and with no anxious look. She was so taken aback she missed the remark about Harry Potter. It seemed everyone else responded to the same cue and tensed up. Onyx looked directly into Mira’s eyes, through her eyes? Which made her more tense than anything else.

               “ What?” Rina said, clueless, or maybe not “ What? Are we still pretending nothing happened?”

               “ I don’t think it’s fair--” Liam began, in an attempted defence.

               “ No, no, it’s okay. I did scare the shit out of everyone… including myself.”

               “ Well, hopefully you can come up with a new tactic for the tournament…” Input Nora shyly. Chel laughed bitterly. “ I’m sorry, Mira, I just… I think you know what I mean.”

               “ Yes, I think so. I will try my best not to poison anyone with nightmares.” After a slight pause,    “ Krum better watch out though. And wait… Potter? That’s the wimpy little kid?”

               “ Harry fucking Potter.” Said Chel exasperatedly, shaking her head as if _of course_ he too, would be here. Mira didn’t understand the reaction.

               “ Am I… Missing something?”

               “ You don’t know?” Rina looked incredulous.

               “ Of course not, she’s a fucking muggle.” Chel huffed.

               “ Okay yeah, I’m a big dirty muggle-born, television and all, but why are you all acting like some fourteen year old boy is someone I should know about?” Everyone stared at her blankly, disbelievingly,  “ Is he in some wizarding version of a boy band?”

               Liam laughed, “Oh my god Mira, you really didn’t pay attention in magical European history at all?”

               “ Uhh, that was a class?”

               “ They cut it our year actually, started doing double of that herbology potions hybrid instead.” Rina explained.

               “ But still…” Interjected Nora, “ you should have probably known about this.”

               “ Why is a fourteen year old kid important in a _history_ class?” Mira was only more and more confused, but then thought a second, “ does this have anything to do with people wanting to kill him?”

               “ What?” Asked Rina.

               “ Yes.” Said Onyx, flatly. Everyone went quiet. She made her direct eye contact with Mira, who had to focus on the flames after about two seconds of it. She went on, “ A wizard named Voldemort tried to kill him when he was a baby. The curse backfired.”

               “ … the killing curse?”

               “ Yes.”

               “ Oh. And uhhh… right. Yes, these UK wizards killing babies. Why, maybe?”

               “ Prophecy.” The flames flickered across Onyx’s face, adding intensity to what she said. She didn’t explain any further, and, lost in the firelight dancing across the bridge of her nose, Mira didn’t ask more.

               Liam, sensing that that explanation wasn’t much of an explanation went on, “ He hated muggles, Mira…”

               Snapping out of her daze, “ Harry?”

               “ Ha, no. He… who must not be named.”

               “ Excuse me?” Mira wrinkled her nose.

               “ Sorry, what Onyx said.. I just, Mum told me not to say it, alright?” Liam was looking embarrassed, Rina was snickering at him.

               “ The Dark Lord!” Yelled Rina, “ He Who Must Not Be Named! Voldemort!”

               “ I understand much less than I did before any of you said anything.” Mumbled Mira.

               “ He’s a scary dude, people don’t like to say his name. I don’t really get why though.” Rina shrugged, “ he’s dead now. Thanks to one little bitty Harry Potter!”

               “ He’s not dead.” Onyx said. Nobody breathed for a second.

               “ Well… He _might_ not be dead.” Added Nora added, cutting the tension. Onyx didn’t flinch. “ He, um, well he was very anti-muggle born. Thought only Pureblood sorcerers should be doing magic. He… had a following. An extensive following.”

               “ Basically he did the Salem witch trials to non-magic people.” Piped in Rina.

               “ Rina, as you should know, the Salem witch trials had almost nothing to do with _magic_ and were more a method of humiliating and murdering innocent women--”

               “ I knoooow, Nora,” moaned Rina, “ we _all_ took Magical History of North America.”

               Moll entered their camp then, a healthy glow from the nightcap she’d shared with Dumbledore showing in her cheeks.

               “ Ah, yes! I hope you’ve all congratulated our dear Miranda?”

               The students grumbled, except for Liam who yelled, “ you bet!” With a huge grin and thumbs up that came off rather sarcastically. He only shrugged at Mira’s questioning glance.

               Moll, perhaps due to the nightcap, seemed uninterested in further interaction with Mira, let alone explaining what her complicated expressions during the meeting of the five champions had meant, and drifted off to her own tent with only a few remarks about the stars over here reading differently. The other students followed her lead, beginning to disperse. Liam gave Mira a soft squeeze of the shoulder, but conversation, explanations, of what the _hell_ was going on, were not to be resumed.

               Mira found herself left alone at the dimming fire and feeling rather heavy.

~~

               The night wouldn’t leave Mira  alone. The twisting shadows and haunting creaks of the trees around her seemed amplified, more noticeable than her first night in the unfamiliar territory. She attempted, tossing about, to sleep, but it would not come. Eventually she settled for staring at the ceiling of her tent, watching the quivering outlines of branches cast by the moonlight carve out horrific scenes, she could only assume they were trying to demonstrate her own death. If it wasn’t by the tournament itself, it would be by the hands of her fellow students, or simply the act of living here for so many months.

               _Fucking champion?_

_Miranda Zellick, champion?_

The thought made her sick. Everyone would know who she was, would be watching her and anticipating her. And she was no accomplished witch, except for in dreaming, something inaccessible on this continent due to the alignment of the planets and stars. Her next best skills, herbology, potions, were surely not going to help her in a pinch. Was she going to be expected to… fight? Was she going to have to fight Cedric? The beautiful shimmering girl from Beauxbaton? _God fuck, I hope not,_ she thought, wincing at the mere idea.

               And then the whole matter of someone plotting to kill a kid? Harry looked so completely ordinary. Stunned, horrified even, by being thrown into this ordeal. It sounded like this wasn’t the first time, it sounded like his entire life was something of an ordeal. And _all_ of the Tilson kids had recognized him. He was that famous, as a kid? Mira shivered to even think of herself in that position. And no doubt being thrown into the tournament would make things more complicated for him. She found herself aching to think of how he must be feeling, what he’s already had to put up with. But, she supposed, since he went to this school where they focus so much on spell casting, he was probably more qualified than she was to duel. 

               She only split into one dream the entire night. Nothing of her usual vivid variety at Tilson, and it was only  blur when she woke to the early morning light filtering in through her tent. She felt utterly disgusting but knew there was no point remaining in bed any longer.

               Breakfast was simple affair they shared at the large table Moll had erected beneath a shade canopy. Most of the students seemed to have slept less than well in the ominous woods that night so there was little conversation.

               Dishes cleared magically, Moll began to discuss their lessons.

               “ I’ve learned that… A greenhouse for each of you was a bit of a lofty ambition. So I’ve paired you off, completely randomly. Liam and Rina, you’ll be in greenhouse one, Chelsea and Nora, in greenhouse two, and Miranda and Onyx in greenhouse three. I’m giving each pair a different set of goals, which you can tailor and craft more to your liking, of course. You’ve each spent enough time with these plants over the past few years, I’m expecting some creativity.”

               Miranda was disappointed in not having a space entirely to herself, but on hearing that she was paired with Onyx, she wasn’t sure where her emotions landed. The advantages and disadvantages of having Onyx as a partner seemed to be the same. Onyx was two years ahead of her and known to be extremely proficient in herbology. On the one hand, that would be a huge advantage and learning opportunity. On the other… It was downright intimidating. Mira was already scared to talk to Onyx, now she’d be expected to interact with her, in a very small space, every single day.

               “ Seems completely random..” Mumbled Chel.

               “ What was that Chelsea?” Moll asked, pleasantly, handing out their assignment booklets.

               “ Uh, everyone knows Onyx is the best herbologist in school and Mira spent every night in one last year.” The praise didn’t sound like praise coming out of Chel’s mouth. And Mira hadn’t known that everyone had known she’d been breaking into greenhouse four all year…

               “ Your point?”

               “ Stacked team!”

               “ It’s not a Quidditch game, Chelsea. You’re being ridiculous.”

               “ Nora has higher marks than me.” Onyx stated plainly, before accepting their assignment and taking a seat beside Mira.

               Chel huffed, and glanced at Nora, who was clearly embarrassed. “ Sorry.” She mumbled, almost inaudibly.

               “ Greenhouses will be set up by the end of today. As for now, take a look over your assignments, ask me any questions, and later we’ll be taking a stroll through these lovely woods and see what we can find.” Moll winked before sitting herself down and her own, smaller table, and reading over some rather enormous, dusty, ancient books.

               Onyx flipped open their assignment in front of herself and Mira. The first page read Serpent’s Apothecary and outlined what that was supposed to mean.

               “ Well, seems we’re up for a bit of a challenge.” Mused Onyx, not seeming disheartened by it at all. If anything, there was a gleam in her eye.

               “ You know what this is?” Asked Mira.

               “ We studied it briefly last year, in potions. I’m sure you know what a basic chemist or apothecary garden is?”

               “ Yes. Medicinal plants, for healing potions usually.” Miranda began to flip through the booklet. It was full of diagrams showing detailed plant systems, and long passages explaining more. She felt daunted.

               “ This is a more advanced version. Often for a potion master specializing in rare, exotic, experimental medicine, or magic of any form.” Onyx sounded excited, which made Mira’s stomach drop a little.

               “ You know… This might be, a little above me.” She said quietly, inspecting a particularly venomous looking magical plant. “ I’m sorry if I totally fuck this up for us.”

               Onyx laughed, a beautiful, light laugh. “ I saw your faery root spores last year, Mira.”

               “ That was kind of an accident.” Mumbled Mira, sheepishly. She did love plants, but how much did she not know? How much more advanced was Onyx in the two years of extra study she’d had?

               “ A fourth year can't do that by accident. Ren was making tinctures out of your work all summer.”

               “ I was just kinda trying it out… I think it was dumb luck.”

               “ Let’s hope you stay lucky this year.” Onyx gave her a reassuring soft smile that made Mira’s gut twist in knots. She simultaneously couldn’t wait to get into the greenhouse and hoped that the construction of them was sabotaged and they’d never have a chance to start the project.

              

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is it safe to ask what people are thinking?


	10. The Weighing of the Wands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> couldn't resist sneaking in some pretty boy fluff in the beginning here

Cedric was feeling as close to smug as he ever had, and that made him feel a little embarrassed. After parting ways with Harry and the strange Tilson girl, he’d been greeted by a rather spectacular Hufflepuff celebration. It had gone late into the night and if he hadn’t faked a yawn and told everyone he was for bed it might still be going on now. Writing a letter to his family, he knew his father would be over the moon, and absolutely furious about Harry getting chosen and dampening his spotlight. He shook his head at the thought.    

               However happy he was about being called champion, he found all the attention a little overwhelming. He never minded the group celebrations for the Quidditch victories, but that was it, this wasn’t a group. All eyes on him now… and well, Harry.

               Had Harry put his name in? He certainly seemed offended at the very thought of someone thinking it. But that could be a cover up… The rest of Hufflepuff, and the entire school apart from Gryffindor as it became apparent the next day, seemed to think Harry guilty. Whatever the truth was, Cedric had no intention of letting the kid win. He figured being selected to compete against The Chosen One, a renowned seeker, and a fairy veela princess girl, meant he must be something worthy, no matter how ordinary he felt. The only one he couldn’t figure out was Miranda… He couldn’t explain why but he’d thought, _hoped_ perhaps, that the Tilson boy, Liam, would be their champion. There was something about him… Well, no sense dwindling on it now, thought Cedric. The reason for Mira becoming champion would surely reveal itself soon.

               Cedric finished the rest of his letter home in a hurry, he had said he would meet Cho for lunch and he did not want to be late. Stuffing it into an envelope he pocketed and got up to leave. Hopefully he would remember to take it to the owlery later… Maybe he’d convince Cho to get away from everyone up there? He didn’t like the idea of trying to date someone while everyone in the school was watching him… And the gnawing feeling that Cho only liked him because he was champion wouldn’t go away, never mind the fact that they’d been seeing each other for a few weeks beforehand.

               He rushed out of his dorm, through the common room, a few people cheering for him which he smiled through and tried not to look like he was hurrying away from, down to the great hall. A quick scan around and he didn’t see Cho at the Ravenclaw table… A few students were watching him now, and he could feel the beginning of cheers about to erupt… Then he noticed the Tilson kids, huddled at the end of  his own table, apart from one girl, who was making animated conversation with his fellow housemates. Liam and Miranda were leaning together in quiet conversation. They caught his eye. Without thinking, he went to sit next to them.

               The Hufflepuff girl beside Liam, a fifth year who he couldn’t remember the name of, thought for a second he wanted to sit beside her. “ Cedric! Suzy, move over so Cedric can sit…” And she practically shoved her friend to make room for him.

               He smiled politely at her, taking a seat, but turned towards the Tilson students.

               “ Hi.” He breathed. _Oh god, that’s overconfident, isn’t it? Why did I do this?_

               But Liam locked eye contact with him and breathed out “ Hi” right back at him. Was he blushing now? Cedric doesn’t really blush…

               “ What’s up?” Mira was talking to him now, an eyebrow raised at his sudden appearance. Or his interaction with Liam? He snapped out of looking into Liam’s eyes and focused on her.

               “ Um, oh, right. It’s lunch and um… just thought I’d, introduce myself, to all of you.” He said, awkwardly looking around at the bunch and scolding himself for being like this.

               “ I’m Rina!” The girl who’d been making conversation with the Hufflepuff’s stuck her hand in his face. She shook his hand with more force than he anticipated from such a tiny person. “ And that’s Nora, Onyx, and Chelsea,”

               “ Just Chel.”

               “ And you already know Mira I assume, and do you know Liam?” Rina inquired, head tilted in interest.

               “ Yes. Um yeah, we met the other day.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, Liam gave a pleasant half smile.

               “ So how does it feel to be champion?” Asked Rina.

               “ Um…”

               “ Leave him alone Rina, he’s probably getting enough of that.” Miranda said softly, eyeing the Hufflepuff girl on his other side, who was whispering fiercely with Suzy.

               “ Yeah… Kinda.” Cedric admitted, smiling at her.

               “ Anytime you need someone to scare off admirers just ask Mira.” Input Liam, Mira scowled at him.

               “ What?” Cedric wondered if there was a story behind that comment.

               “ He’s an asshole. But it’s true.” She shrugged.

               “ You seem fine to me…” Cedric offered but then the girl called Chel snorted. He didn’t have time to inquire further because Cho had appeared at his shoulder.

               “ Hi.” She said, a little nervously. _God she was cute._

               “ Hi.” He said back.

               “ Did you still want..?”

               “ Oh yeah!” And he stood up suddenly. “ Let’s go to your table, shall we?” Suddenly not wanting Liam - the Tilson kids -  to witness him attempting to flirt…  His sudden urge to get out of there as fast as he’d shown up almost made him forget his manners. Almost. “ Nice meeting you all! I’m sure we’ll see each other ‘round.”

               And he followed Cho towards the blue table, thinking _What the hell is wrong with me today?_

 

~~

_Dear Anya_

_I hope grade six is treating you okay. You’re now further than I ever got in public school, so technically you’re smarter than me, huh?_

_Just got to the school. Same as Tilson it’s totally boring and removed from everywhere else, you’re not missing out at all. You’ll probably believe this more than me, but I actually got chosen as champion for our school. Please tell mom and dad for me, I don’t feel like writing three letters._

_I know switching houses between mom and dad is frustrating, don’t feel bad reminding them when they forget. What you want is important too, even if big mean adults act differently._

_Not sure how I’m going to send you this letter yet… Pretty sure owls can’t fly across the ocean. So if it suddenly appears in a mysterious or shocking way  I’m sorry if you get startled._

_Lots of love always,_

_your big sister_

               Miranda knew her sister would be dying of envy if she told her got to go to school in a castle with ghosts in the halls and unicorns in the woods so she never added many details in her letters. She stared at the letter in her hand, regretting how much of her sister’s life she had missed, and would continue to miss, going to magical boarding school and not the regular public school in their home town. She never regretted leaving suburbia except for when she thought of Anya being left to deal with it alone.

               She sealed up her letter, leaning back in her desk chair. The weight of what she was going to have to endure this year was settling in on her. She felt immensely tired already, but also somewhat exhilarated, in a frantic, nervous, wanting to puke kinda way. The Tilson students were acting as if nothing had changed, apart from some snide remarks from Chel, but if it wasn’t about her being champion it could have been something else. The students from the other schools however… it was clear they wanted to know more about her. Wanted to know why the hell she was selected, the champions from the other schools seemed so obviously champions already. With the exception of Harry… But he was The Chosen One, so she was told.

~~

               “ We have to check that your wands are fully functional! You know, as they are your most important tools in the weeks ahead!” Ludo’s words to Harry echoed in Mira’s ears.

               She was sitting at a desk near the corner where Krum appeared to be sulking, she was attempting not to give away any emotion but on the inside she felt ill with anxiety. She’d made her own wand and knew very well that they bought them here, properly tailored and outfitted. And this was only her first wand, most Tilson students had to go through two or three tries, sometimes many more, before they got just the right fit. The simplicity of the spells she’d learned in her four previous years of study hadn’t caused her any issues, but the tournament would be more demanding… And _most important tool?_ Wasn’t that supposed to be her brain?

 Mira suddenly felt she would most certainly be the one to die in this tournament.

She tried to focus on something else as she waited for the rest of the judges to file in. A woman in magenta robes was inspecting them all with an air of interest. But her focus was clearly Harry, whom within a few moments she’d scooped away to speak to privately. Mira could see how uncomfortable Harry was and felt rather bad for him, but didn’t feel in any condition to help.

Cedric and Fleur were talking amiably together. Mira found Fleur the most pleasant distraction, mesmerized briefly by her silvery sheet of hair. Cedric caught her staring and smiled at her, she attempted to smile calmly back. He then said something to Fleur and they both walked in her direction.

_Oh fuck, I don’t think I can keep my anxiety inside if I have to talk…_

“ Alright, Mira?” Asked Cedric kindly. Did he know something was up with her?

“ Um yeah. Good. Good.” She blinked, swallowed. “ And you?” She barely remembered to ask.

“ Good, yeah.” Cedric seemed normal, but Fleur was looking at her with a frown.

“ Et toi, Fleur?” She said without thinking.

“ Tu parles français?”

“ Um… No. Not really.” Suddenly extremely embarrassed. Her mother was half-French, had spoken it to her when she was young, but she’d forgotten most of it since moving to Tilson. Fleur’s frown deepened more than ever and even Cedric gave her a funny look.

Mira thought if she was going to die in the tournament she might as well die right now.

Thankfully she was prevented from digging herself into a deeper hole by Dumbledore walking in, followed by Moll, the rest of the judges and an old man with startling pale blue eyes.

“ Afternoon Ludo, have all our champions arrived?”

“ Yes! Yes indeed, we’re all here and ready!” Ludo bellowed.

“ Where’s Harry?”

“ In the broom cupboard with Ms Skeeter.” Ludo said, as if that wasn’t the most horrible sentence he could have said.

Dumbledore looked down at him in shock, but didn’t say anything. Swiftly he walked to the cupboard and retrieved a rather pissed off looking Harry and a smug looking journalist. The champions were then instructed to sit before the velvet covered tables, where the judges sat, and Dumbledore proceeded to introduce Mr. Olivander as the person who would be checking their wands.

Mira felt like she might be ill. What was this wand expert going to say about her shabby, gnarled homemade wand? Moll seemed entirely unconcerned by the embarrassment that was no doubt about to ensue and smiled happily at everyone.

Fleur was called forward first. He twirled her wand around, it emitted lovely pink and gold swirls. “ Yes.” He said quietly, “ Nine and half inches, inflexible, rosewood, and containing… dear me.”

“ An ‘air from the ‘ead of a Veela. One of my grandmother’s.” Said Fleur. Everyone in the room seemed to react to the statement. Except for Miranda, who felt relieved that there was a reason she’d been attracted to such traditional beauty. She normally went for weirdos. What struck Mira more was the personal connection to the wand core, maybe they made their own wands at Beauxbaton’s as well? That didn’t much help her feel as ease though, Fleur’s wand was polished and beautiful. And at the end of his inspection, Olivander declared her wand acceptable.

It seemed the old man was going in alphabetical order, because Miranda was last. She was quaking with nerves after watching the other four pass the test. Each of them had lovely wands visually, she was afraid Olivander would snap her own in half just for it being so ugly.

“ And Ms. Zellick?” He asked calmly, after sending Harry off with one last admiring look at his own work. Sucking a breath in to hide her nerves she walked forward, trying not to look ashamed, she handed him her twisted, unpolished, excuse of a wand.

Mr. Olivander accepted into his hand with something of a look of shock, perhaps a hint of disgust. In his hands, it looked like nothing more than a regular twig from any old tree. He didn’t say anything for a moment, just turned it in his hands, frowning.

“ Eleven and half inches,” he finally said, “ untreated pine… mildly flexible… with a…” And his frown deepened. Miranda had felt confident with her core choice at the time, but in comparison to dragon heart strings, a phoenix feather, unicorn or veela hair, her measly, regular, crow feather core seemed like nothing, useless. Maybe it was just a twig. “ Who made this wand? I’m quite unfamiliar with North American wand makers.”

Miranda swallowed. “ I did.”

She was too focused on Olivander to notice how anyone else in the room reacted, fully expecting him to snap it in half and offer her one of his own, much superior, wands.

He raised an eyebrow, and then lifted the wand and waved it, uttering an incantation Mira was entirely unfamiliar with, and a single sprig of lavender bloomed from the tip, which Mira reached out and caught as it drifted slowly downwards.

“ Remarkable.” And he turned to look at Moll, “ Do all your students craft their own instruments?”

She beamed and nodded, “ They sure do.”

“ I would like to speak with you after.” Olivander smiled, and then turned back to Miranda.  “ Excellent work for a beginner, your wand is suitable.”

Mira was shocked. “ Um… Are you sure?” She couldn’t help but ask. He simply smiled and nodded, handing back her wand.

Dumbledore tried to excuse all the students then, but Ludo couldn’t let them forget the photos. Mira would have taken Olivander ripping apart her wand making over being in those any day. She was lucky however, not being the famous Harry Potter or a beautiful Veela girl, she got to skulk in the background with Krum.

 


	11. A Bird, A Skrewt

Miranda’s increasing anxiety was making it hard for her to sit. Although she found Moll’s teachings quite a bit more interesting than many of her teachers back at Tilson, none of the information sunk in. She was too busy imagining bloody death in the first task. She couldn’t tell if it was better not to know what she was facing or worse. Her mind immediately jumped to duelling. What else would be appropriately theatrical for the spectating crowds? But maybe that wasn’t daring enough?

She was buzzing in anticipation. She could barely hold a conversation with Liam, who had become her closest friend. Not that she knew exactly what that meant. She felt uncomfortable about actually liking someone. Most of the people she’d known at school before she’d merely tolerated. With the exception of her former roommate Kel… And look how that had turned out. Thinking about what had happened between them also transpiring between her and Liam only increased her agitation. It was foolish. She knew it was impossible for a repeat to occur, due to many factors, but it haunted her all the same.

               She found herself making excuses not to be around him, or any of the other students. Her usual refuge, the greenhouse, wasn’t the same retreat as it once was. If she wasn’t at wits end about the tournament she was sure sharing the space with Onyx would be something of a pleasure. And it still was, when Mira could sit still long enough to get her hands in the dirt and listen to the other girl’s in depth plant wisdom. But those moments were few and far between, and her lack of ability to pull her weight in their joint project had her riddled with guilt. Onyx never complained when she’d start pacing, or muttering to herself. She only ever stepped in when she started tearing at her hair.

               “ You’re going to hurt yourself.” She said in her usual soft but firm tone, planting a small sapling in a fresh mix of soil and enchanted root compost they’d just concocted. They’d finished mapping out the basics of their apothecary garden and Onyx was eager to get the slower growing plants started in deeper ground.

               “ I’m going to die.” Mira said without any emotion, which somehow made it feel even more dramatic. “ Sorry. I know I’m ridiculous. I should be helping.” And she picked up a watering can and started watering their newest seedlings, only beginning to sprout.

               “ We just watered those.”

               Miranda stopped immediately, noticing that they had indeed just watered them and they were now sopping wet. “ Fuck.” She muttered.

               “ Too bad we don’t have any weeding to do in here yet, that always gets my mind out of stressful loops.” Mused Onyx, sitting back, the tree planted in the center of their tall greenhouse. It was an incredible structure really. Moll had put a lot of care into the architecture of it, tailoring each greenhouse to the specific needs of the student projects. Outfitted with magic, of course, so the potential for a wondrous garden inside was very high.

               Miranda breathed in, trying to calm her constant race of thoughts. She looked at Onyx, hands calmly working in the dirt of another plant. The sun was filtering in through the glass, catching at angles and illuminating Onyx’s face in a golden glow. It looked almost like she was a god.

               Miranda turned away. Here she was, standing in a magical greenhouse with magical plants, with an actual _god_ of a person, and she was stressing out about something she couldn’t predict or do anything to prepare for, and almost not noticing any of it? She suddenly felt anger at an undetermined source. She was surrounded by beauty, but there was so much shit happening, and that had already happened, and that was going to happen, and it was preventing her from basking in life. She even felt annoyed at her own moment of self-awareness, because now that she knew she wasn’t appreciating the beauty it was even more angering that she couldn’t immediately start to.

               “ What are you sulking about?” Asked Onyx, detecting a change in her usual frantic energy.

               “ I’m not sulking.” Sulked Mira, who realized she indeed had her arms across, posture bent and a pouty lip. She straightened herself up.

               “ Is it the tournament?” Onyx stopped what she was doing, her full attention on Mira.

               “ No.” Miranda didn’t know what was bothering her at this point. The tournament? Navigating new friendships? Being in an unfamiliar landscape and forced to meet what felt like a thousand new people every single day? Her past refusing to stop haunting her, despite the threat of her dream walking quelled in this part of the world?

               “ Well, if you want to talk about it…” Onyx offered.

               Miranda was sceptical. Liam tried to force her to talk about her feelings, but he was always crafty about it, as he had been to get her to submit her name into The Goblet of Fire. But she didn’t understand why he was interested, and she surely didn’t understand why Onyx would be. Unless…

               “ Sorry, I’m being annoying.” And Mira knelt beside Onyx at the raised bed she was working in and began transplanting some snakeroots. The other did not return to her work immediately but continued to watch Mira with an unreadable expression. Mira wanted to ask what she was thinking but was too afraid. Of what, she wasn’t sure. Onyx bent to dirt again, Mira exceedingly aware of their proximity, the occasional just barely brushing of their elbows.

~~

Moll was getting bored. Over the course of her educational career she’d taken care to teach less and less, becoming Matron of Tilson made that easy. But then it wasn’t only teaching that she got bored of, it was simply being at the school. Around all of the same teachers, the same students, the same scenery. She craved movement at every turn, and being with the same small group, having to teach them herself five days of the week, and ensure they were keeping themselves alive for seven of them, was beginning to drag on her.

She was bent over the essay drafts she’d assigned and now had to mark. _Circe, how can the students even sit still long enough to write this textbook regurgitation?_

She had begun plotting an increase in greenhouse time and private study a while ago, and attempting to organize some guest speakers to take over a few lectures, thinking it was the only way she could possibly manage this year without her heart beat halting from ennui. Perhaps some of the Hogwarts professors wouldn’t mind a few additional student tagging along to class a few times a week? Some of them would probably be rather annoyed, but that didn’t matter if they didn’t outright refuse her, did it?

She sat up, checking the time. She was due in Hogsmeade soon, to discuss wand making more in depth with Mr. Olivander. She’d felt antsy halfway through their conversation when they’d spoken after the weighing of the wands, but she thought she better endure his slight narcissism for she knew he possessed a wealth of knowledge, and he knew some people she’d rather like to become acquainted with… 

~~

               Since the greenhouse was no longer the calming refuge, Mira found herself wandering in the woods. Hagrid, Moll, Dumbledore, the other Hogwarts students, had all been explicit about them not doing this. And for the first two weeks of being there Mira respected that wish. The Forbidden Forest, as she’d learned it was called, had magnificent, overpowering presence. But mingling in the apparent stagnancy of their camp clearing got her curious.

               Moll had ventured them out together as a group, conducting them through outward meditations in which they had encountered several magical creatures, including unicorns, hippogriffs, and once a giant scurrying spider. The further their walks weaved, the more Mira felt confident she could handle the forest alone.

               And Moll’s warning had been spoken with a twinkle in the eye, almost challenging the students to contradict her precautions. So Mira, in her free time, found herself pretending she was going to the library, but sneaking off down some other path. She was smart enough to keep her explorations to daylight hours, as the night did bring a certain terrifying quality to the looming trees.

               So when Moll called off their morning lecture, she found herself sitting against a fallen tree trunk, legs outstretched. The usual commotion in her brain that overpowered her senses tended to calm in the commanding grandeur of the forest. A flicker of movement caught her eye. Alone, she hadn’t encountered anything extraordinary. The flicker was dark, in the trees nearby. Approaching her? She remained completely still.

               Another flicker. A flap of wings? Yes, a black feathered bird, glinting a silvery blue in the sunlight, seemed to be stalking her. It fluttered from one branch, remaining partially hidden, then to another, always slightly in Mira’s sight line. All other life in the forest seem to dim.

 It was larger than a crow, smaller than a raven. She stared at it, trying not move, wondering if that was stupid. Is this an ordinary bird? Or is it magical? Is it somehow a danger?

               It showed itself completely. Landing a few meters, on the ground, in front of where Mira was sitting. It cocked its head to the side, inspecting her.

               _Hello._

               She only thought it, and although she heard nothing, it seemed to greet her in response. Then hopped into the air, and landed directly onto the outstretched toe of her boot. She didn’t breathe. Then it hopped again, landing behind her on the tree trunk, bent down, close to her ear. It was hard for her to remain still, feeling it’s life so close to her own. It then scuttled down, digging sharp talons into her shoulder. She just barely turned her head towards it. It nipped at her jaw line, harshly, and flew away.

               She lifted her hand to the now stinging spot, when she took it away, there was blood on her fingers.

~~

Liam was aimlessly meandering about the castle, still mesmerised by the sheer massiveness of it. He’d set off to find Mira, who’d said she was going to the library earlier, but he’d been unable to find her. He wasn’t surprised she’d lied, but was saddened by it. At times she responded to his friendship as naturally as if they had always known each other, but he noticed she would often catch herself and become guarded again. He knew that something bad had transpired between her and her former close friend, Kel, and wondered if that had anything to do with her resistance to intimacy now. He’d like to ask her about it, but knew he’d have to do it in a manipulative sneaky way if he wanted her to really admit anything, and speaking to someone like that all the time got exhausting. As much as he wanted into Miranda’s clouded head, he couldn’t bend himself any which way to do it.

               Maybe it was good he couldn’t find her. Maybe he should start making new friends.

               He realized he had no idea where he was in the castle, having let several of the drifting staircases transport him wherever they wanted to turn, he’d completely lost track of how many flights he’d ascended, how many corridors he’d walked. He began to wonder if he’d be able to find his way down to The Great Hall in time for lunch when he ran into Cedric, exiting from a door tucked behind the statue in the likeness of a bewildered looking old wizard. An intoxicating floral scent wafted out of the door, and was clinging to Cedric as well, in a subtler way, Liam was equal parts embarrassed and exhilarated to notice.

               “ Liam!” Cedric’s stormy eyes widened in surprise, as if he had been caught in something he shouldn’t have been doing. He recovered his expression to his usual collected, charming manner in seconds.

               “ Uhh, hello.” Liam said, biting his lip and looking away from Cedric. Feeling suddenly like he’d also been caught doing something he shouldn’t, although unsure where that feeling originated from. When he’d spoken to Cedric the first time at The Goblet of Fire it had been easy, but when they’d met in The Great Hall the other boy had seen flustered, distracted, and he hadn’t known what that meant. “ So…” He looked back at Cedric, who was leaning nonchalantly against the statue, hands in pockets, and observing him with apparent interest. He got caught in his cool gaze for only a moment.

               “ So…” Cedric repeated slowly, an amused smile playing at the corner of his lips. Liam had difficulty reading it.

               “ I was… Looking for Mira, have you seen her?” Liam couldn’t really think of anything else to say, apart from asking him about the tournament, and Mira was probably right about him having enough of that talk already.

               “ Sorry, haven’t seen her since the last time I saw you.” And he stood up straight, lingering in silence for a moment. “ It’s about lunch though, maybe she’s in The Great Hall?”

               “ Yeah… Maybe.” Liam said softly.

               “ I’m headed there myself…” And he gave a little nod down the hallway, suggesting they go together. They fell in step beside each other, a palpable silence. Liam couldn’t help stealing a glance at Cedric, who was nodding his head amiably at passing student.

               They both began speaking at the same time. “ Sorry! Sorry, you go ahead.” Rushed Liam, who had already forgotten whatever dumb conversation filler he was going to say.

               “ I was just going to ask, how’re you settling in? I’m curious, you’re stuck in The Forbidden Forest?” Cedric inquired, leading them down another corridor.

               Liam laughed, “ Apparently so. Haven’t really figured out why it’s called that though?”

           “ Nasty stuff in there, apparently. Giant arachnomantulas, centaurs that don’t like us too much…”

               “ Well we did see a giant spider, but no centaurs so far.” Mused Liam, the tense air between them had melted away some.

               “ Really? So it’s true?” Cedric paused, ceased walking, looking over at him. Liam raised an eyebrow.

               “ You’ve really not gone in there? I mean, it’s kinda intimidating, but it’s not so bad.”

               “ Guess I’m a bit of rule follower…” Cedric frowned.

               “ Well, I’ll show you around sometime, if your daring champion self can handle it.” Liam teased, before resuming their walk, despite not knowing where exactly they were going.

~~

               Mira’s face was still stinging but the blood had stopped. She’d gone back to the camp, having completely lost track of time, and wondering if their next lesson was supposed to begin. There was no one there.

               Deciding it was probably lunch, she began trudging her way up to the castle. As she rounded the Beauxbatons carriage she saw a very strange looking worm scorpion thing, with a heavy rope tied around it’s middle, scurrying underneath. A second later she saw Neville, with grass-stained knees and elbows, a smudge of mud along his jaw, running after it, yelling “ No, no, no!” He was frantically looking for the thing, but seemed simultaneously terrified of finding it.

               “ Neville.” Mira greeted, he hadn’t noticed her in his panic. His head snapped up in her direction, and it took him a moment to recover from the apparent shock of her talking to him.

               “ Miranda… Um, I just.. I’ve lost my skrewt.”

               “ Are you sure you want to find it?” Mira asked, walking towards him and bending to look beneath the carriage. The skrewt was there, either backing away from them or walking away from them, Mira couldn’t tell where the head was.

               Neville let out a nervous laugh, “ well no. No, they’re awful! But it’s for school… so… come here skrewty.” He called to the thing.

               “ Why don’t I go around the back and scare it towards you?” Mira suggested, figuring she couldn’t very well leave Neville to deal with this thing alone, and nobody else was in sight.

               He looked absolutely horrified at that suggestion.

               “ Okay, you go around the back and scare it towards me?” She suggested, although she had no idea how to handle a skrewt, and the thing was not pleasant looking. Neville however, seemed more okay with that idea.

               He maneuvered behind the carriage, first trying a very half-hearted yell, then clapping, to no effect. The thing seemed suspicious of them, as if it knew what they were doing.

               It was not until the carriage door opened and out stepped an enormous heeled foot that the skrewt moved. A large blast emitted from it, and it shot directly into Mira’s arms, who was about ten feet from the door. The force of it propelled her backwards, and she was pinned to the ground by a number of scuttling legs. She let out a yell and frantically attempted to detangle herself from the thing, which was caught in her sweater.

               Neville ran about the carriage, anxiously trying to help but only creating a bigger tangle.

               “ What iz goin on ‘ere?” Demanded Madame Maxime, a bunch of her students huddled behind her. They all sported looks for shock, disgust, and fear. “ Meera? What ar you doing with zis thing?”

               “ Um, it’s not mine!” She yelled, finally able to stand, and firmly gripping the rope.

               “ Well, I would appreziate et if you would remove et from ‘ere!” She yelled.

               “ Um, Oui Madame!” She cried, pulling it, and Neville, who was also clinging to the rope, towards Hagrid's. Neville was so pale, she wasn’t sure if he was more scared of the skrewt or Madame Maxime.

                   “Penser, un champion qui agit comme ça!” They heard called behind them, and Mira felt annoyance creep into her clenched jaw when she heard the Beauxbatons students giggling at them.

                   Once they were out of earshot of the French Mira turned to Neville, who was still pale, “ Why are you dealing with this thing alone? It seems like a two person job…”

                   “ Oh um… My partner, Seamus, ditched me.” He frowned.

                   “ That’s shit.” Murmured Mira.

                   “ No, I mean, it’s okay, he wanted to be near Dean so…” Mira raised an eyebrow at Neville’s acceptance of being left alone, wondering how often this kind of thing happened to him, but figured he wouldn’t want to talk about it.

                   Hagrid and a couple other students came into view, and several large crates. Mira was just about to pass the reigns over to Neville and excuse herself, but before she could manage, Hagrid, and who she realized was Harry, noticed her.

                   “ Uh, Mira? What you doing with a skrewt?” Hagrid asked, confused.

                  “ Neville needed a hand.” She states, emotionlessly.

                   “ Neville- where’d Seamus get off to ‘en?” He said, looking down at the still pale boy.

                   “ It’s not his--” Neville began to make excuses for his partner, but anticipating this was going to cause more commotion than Neville wanted to deal with, Mira piped in.

                   “ Madame Maxime had quite a fright. This thing practically ran right at her…” She sort of lied. Hagrid’s face lost its colour and his mouth hung open, he began muttering something about the three of them getting the rest of the skrewts away and started running in the direction of the carriage.

                   Neither Harry or Neville looked very pleased at being left with the skrewts. Maybe she shouldn’t have said that… 

               Mira finished helping  a rather unimpressed Harry and nervous Neville put the rest of the skrewts in their crates. She could understand why they didn’t enjoy being stuck with the job, they were not a fun species to handle. Hagrid returned, a blush on his cheeks and a whistle on his lips, apparently Madame Maxime hadn’t been overly traumatized by the skrewts.

                “ Yer pretty good with creatures, Mira.” He noted, as she closed in one of the last skrewts. “ Most students are a little skittish.”

               She shrugged, “ Lots of weird stuff in the woods back home.”

               “ Must be something. Studying way up there in the wilderness,” he mused.

               “ Yes. It is.” And Mira felt a pang of heartsickness for her secluded old woods, something she hadn’t really expected to feel.

               “ You head on up the castle now, don’t want ya late fer lunch,” Hagrid hummed. Mira, Harry and Neville happily agreed and turned to go.

               “ Harry… Where’s Ron and Hermione?” Asked Neville, absently, “ They usually wouldn’t leave you alone to do something like this.”

               “ _Ron_ is all too happy to leave me alone these days.” Muttered Harry, through his teeth. “ As for Hermione… Well, she’s not too keen on those monsters.” Mira was reminded of Harry’s interaction with Cedric the night they’d all been chosen, how he’d been untrustworthy of Harry’s declaration of not putting his own name in the goblet. Perhaps his friends weren’t believing him either.

               They returned most of the rest of the way in silence. Harry was clearly feeling bitter about something, and Neville was still extremely nervous around Mira. Although she didn’t mind either of them, she was feeling in no mood to talk. Several people they walked passed were giving them strange looks and whispering, which increased her steadily mounting angst.

               That was when she noticed the badges. Tacky green things glowing “Potter Stinks” sticking out of black robes. And the orange “ Support Cedric Diggory, The Real Hogwarts Champion.”

               Neville noticed them as well, “ I can’t believe the teachers are still letting people wear those awful things…” He muttered under his breath.

               Harry scowled, “ I can.”

               Mira didn’t know what to say or do, and Harry seemed too lost in his own misery to even notice if she had. Her inability to think of anything made her feel angry; at the students, the teachers, the school, being stuck in the tournament, herself.

               When they entered The Great Hall Harry and Neville went to their own table with absentminded goodbyes and Mira spotted Liam and Cedric sitting together, laughing. She didn’t really feel like talking to anyone, but she figured sitting alone might draw more attention to herself.

               “ What the hell happened to you?” Said Liam, looking her up and down incredulously.

               “ What?” She said, but then looked down. She was indeed stained with a little mud, and the skrewt legs had pulled a few rips out of her sweater. “ Oh. I had a run in with one of Hagrid’s creatures.” And she sat down beside Cedric, across from Liam.

               “ It did that to your face?” He asked, and she self-consciously lifted a hand to her cheek. So the weird looks today were probably more to do with her appearance than her status as champion… But maybe this was good, maybe if she looked like an utter disaster people would give up trying to talk to her.

               “ That was a bird actually.” She muttered, filling her plate with lunch and decidedly not looking at him or Cedric, who was also giving her a concerned look.

               “ A bird?” Liam continued to question her, she just glared at him, hopefully conveying her unwillingness for conversation at the moment.

               “ Don’t let me interrupt whatever you were laughing about.” She said a little more snarky than intended, annoyed by his pestering.

               Cedric just then seemed to spot someone across the room, looking past Liam. “ Oh, I um… I said I would meet someone.” He seemed flustered, like he had when he’d sat with them the other day. “ I’ll see you two later.” And he was gone. Liam turned to see who he was meeting, it was the same pretty girl from before. His face fell.

               “ Thought you weren’t over Soren.” Mira said without thinking, unable to shake the anger that was bubbling in her chest. He turned back to her, surprised, hurt, and then narrowed his eyes.

               “ Why’d you lie to me about going to the library? Not that I’m not glad you did.” He hissed, implying she was being less than kind.

               “ I don’t like it when everyone is constantly asking about where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing.” She snipped, now wishing she could stop saying these things. Being angry made her feel out of control, and she knew he hadn’t been out of line asking after why she looked like she’d been attacked.

               He made no response, just glared down at her, seemed almost like he was about to get up and leave the table altogether.

               She sighed, putting her head in her hands. “ It just reminds me too much of last year. I’m sorry, I’m being a huge _twat._ ” She said, attempting to put on a British accent. He did not laugh, but his face did soften.

               They didn’t speak for a moment, returning both to their lunches. But after a thoughtful chewing on his kale salad Liam said, “ I know you’re under a lot of stress, but don’t shove me out because of it. I don’t have any other friends here either.” Mira couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

               “ You make friends with everyone, Liam. You hardly need me around.” She rolled her eyes.

               He shrugged, “ Friendly and friends are two different things.”

               She regarded him sceptically, but decided not to say anything more.


	12. Antipodean Opaleye

Mira’s wandering could not be contained to daylight hours. She’d begun to dream again. Nothing that leaked out of her own mind, nothing of the watery intensity she’d had back in the north, but they weren’t subdued suburban dreams either. They whispered to her, in a way that made her think it was something more than just her own mind communicating. Still wary of the night time forest, she’d more often find herself hiding in the library, beside the lake, inspecting Professor Sprout’s greenhouses.

It was edging towards one in the morning when she found herself walking back down the path to their camp when she crashed directly into nothing. It was a tangly, gangly nothing, that felt like soft velvet and a lumpy stack of bones but when she held up her illuminated wand to the dark forest path all she saw was more dark forest path. Her reaction, perhaps stupidly, was not fear.

She contemplated saying hello, but the idea of speaking to nothing embarrassed her too much to open her mouth. She simply stood there, wand raised, looking about. Was that… breathing?

“ Erm, Miranda…” She heard a youthful awkward voice say and then suddenly, as if pulled from beneath a sheet, Harry appeared in her path.

She was shocked, felt even more tense at the reveal than the initial collision, but did not show it on her face. “ Harry.” She greeted, noticing the curious, glistening, cloak he was holding. Invisibility cloak? Why would Harry have one and be using it out in the dark woods at night?

“ I umm… should tell you…” He murmured, seeming slightly agitated.

“ Yes?” She questioned.

“ The first task… It’s dragons.”

She blinked. “ What?”

“ We have to fight dragons.”

“ Oh.”

“ Yes… Um, I think everyone knows except for you and Cedric so.. thought I’d let you in on it. Only fair.” He shrugged, a little sheepish.

“ Aren’t you not allowed in the woods? Why’d you come all this way to tell me?”

“ I didn’t! The dragons are over there,” and he gestured to a fork in the path that lead around the perimeter of the forest instead of through it. “ I ran into you by pure chance. Surprised you haven’t heard them, being out here all the time…”

“ Oh. Well. Thanks for telling me.” Mira said, looking down the path, ears straining for something that might sound like a giant beasty.

“ Er, no problem.” And he skirted around her, beginning on his way back to the castle.

“ Are you going to tell Cedric?” Mira called after him, suddenly curious.

“ Um, well, I guess I better, huh?”

“ Only fair.”

“ Right… See you.” And Harry ducked back underneath his shimmering cloak and disappeared.

Mira turned to look at the path Harry had just come from. If she followed it would she be lead to the dragons? Would she find out what she was up against? She stood immobile for several moments, before resuming her usual course.

It didn’t matter if she sized them up beforehand or not. She was going to die.

When Mira returned to the camp she was dazed. Nora and Rina were the only ones by the fire, Nora attempting to aid Rina in puzzling through some ancient runes homework they were studying. Rina greeted Miranda, but she didn’t say anything, simply drifted by, face a pale sheet of white.

Mira sat down at her desk and stared at it, not taking it in, barely thinking at all. She was unsure how long she stared at the grain of wood before she heard Liam whispering by her tent. She jumped as if being shocked, and uttered something of a cry that must have resembled “come in” because that’s what Liam did. It was only then that she realized she hadn’t even illuminated her lamp.

With a hurried flick of her wand she did it now, only to see a concerned Liam looking down at her.

“ Was wondering if you wanted to go over that astronomy chart Moll gave us?” He asked. She fidgeted, looked back at the desk. 

“ Um… I’m busy.” She mumbled.

“ Sitting here in the dark?” He questioned, there was amusement but also a dash of concern in his voice. She did not reply, just scowled and sunk lower into her chair. “ You alright?”

“ Yes.” She said emptily.

“ Doesn’t seem like it…”

“ I want to be alone.” She snapped, a little more loudly than intended. He seemed taken aback, paused as if he had something to say but thought better of it and left Mira to stare down the desk.

She immediately regretted being so short with him, but she couldn’t pretend any interest in astronomical charting at the moment. And she certainly didn’t want to explain to him why not. If any of the other students found out she had to face a dragon they would all know she was going to die, and they’d get unnecessarily anxious about it and probably pester her or feel pity. It would be nicer if it was quick and done with on the day of the task.

~~

It was Monday afternoon and Liam was left to his own devices again. He had run into Cedric as he was coming out of The Great Hall and, unable not to notice that he was _not_ with Cho, couldn’t help but engaging him in conversation. Well, he would have spoken to him even if he was with Cho, hell, he would have spoken to Cho all day long. With Mira becoming a huger emotionally repressed reclusive asshole over the past few days he was at a loss for people to speak to. Sure, there was the other Tilson students, but they each seemed engaged in something entirely different, and with Moll dismissing more and more classes, they dispersed more often as well.

Liam was not to the type to spend hours in solo contemplation. Unfortunately for him, that’s what he’d been doing for the most part of the past few days, so he was feeling a little loopy and over eager for social stimulation and Cedric was extremely handsome, _and alone_ so Liam couldn’t help but indulge in some maybe slightly less than subtle flirtatious teasing that he most certainly would regret later if he hadn’t been stopped mid-compliment of Cedric’s champion’s gait when Harry Potter, of all people, stumbled out of The Great Hall and put an end to it.

“ Cedric…” Harry said, eyeing Liam. He briefly wondered if Harry could tell what nonsense he was about to spill and had been so disturbed he’d come to prevent it from happening. Maybe the kid had a time turner, and he’d already witnessed the disaster and it was so awful he was preventing Cedric from humiliation— _Fucking Circe, I’ve been spending way too much time alone._

“ Hullo.” Cedric greeted Harry cordially.

“ Um…” Harry turned his gaze away from Liam, apparently deciding whatever he had to say to Cedric he could say in front of him too. “ The first task, it’s dragons.”

Liam immediately snapped out of his loopy state.

Cedric stared blankly back at Harry. “ What?”

“ Five, one for each of us, and we’ve got to get past them.” Harry rushed to say it all.

“ Are you sure?” Cedric asked with suspicion in his voice. Liam felt like he was going to be sick.

“ Dead sure. I’ve seen them.” Harry nodded, speaking sombrely.

“ But how did you find out? We aren’t supposed to know?” Cedric still seemed extremely hesitant to believe Harry, Liam would have wondered why if he wasn’t concerned with the queasiness that had suddenly overcome him.

“ Never mind, but I’m not the only one who knows, Fleur and Krum must know. Karkaroff and Madame Maxime both saw the dragons too.”

“ What about Mira?” Liam intercut quickly.

“ She didn’t tell you anything?” Harry asked, surprised.

“ She knows then?” _That fucking asshole, of course she would find out and not tell me._

“ Yes, I ran into her right after I saw them.” Harry said, raising an eyebrow. Obviously he didn’t know Mira never told anyone anything.

“ Fuck, that’s why she kicked me out of her tent.” Liam muttered. A flash of something ran across Cedric’s face, but Liam was already walking away, “ I’ll catch you two later.” He called over his shoulder, almost running directly into Mad Eye Moody. They didn’t actually make physical contact but Liam jumped back a good foot when he saw him standing before him, skirted around him much more than necessary.

He hoped this time Mira was actually where she said she was.

~~

Mira was in the library, hunched over a stack of books and staring glassy eyed at diagrams of ancient Wyverns and Hydras and the repeated warning to never face a dragon alone. She felt like she was going to unravel like a ball of yarn.

Someone rushed passed her in the aisle, and the librarian gave a sharp “hmph” sound in warning, and she heard the footsteps retracing. An out of breath Liam appeared before her. He looked down at her stack of dragon books and then, without a word, sat down beside her and opened one.

They sat reading, or attempting to read, in silence until hushed melodic voices speaking in French wafted past them. It was Nora, speaking with a couple of Beauxbaton’s students, making their way airily to another section of the library.

“ Nora’s making friends before any of us. And she speaks French. Who knew.” Mira spoke in surprise, turning back to her book.

“ Mira.” Liam was watching her, book open in his lap and he leaned back in the chair.

“ Yes?” She looked up at him.

“ I’m not going to ask why you didn’t tell me…” He sat up a bit straighter.

“ Okay.” And she looked back down at her book, hoping he would drop it there.

“ I think maybe we should tell Moll.” She had certainly not expected him to say that.

“ What?” Mira wrinkled her nose.

“ We might not be able to figure something out by tomorrow.” He said slowly.

“ I might not.” She corrected him, still pretending to read.

“ Please… I don’t…. I really don’t want you to like… die.” He spoke in a tone that was hushed even for a library.

“ They won’t let me die.” She said, without believing it at all, and turned another page of her book. “ It’s fine, I’ll be fine.” Mira was not sure how she was actually making herself sound fine, because despite her saying so, she felt rather far off from fine. Not that she could place exactly what she was feeling. She hadn’t slept or eaten in forever, her nerves had struck her so hard she’d thrown up on a walk through the forest, but now she felt…. resigned to die in flames. The anxiety, the fear of death, still present, but quelled, hidden under a strange calm. Or maybe… She was so anxious her body had simply turned off emotion, numbed her out so she could still function until the fire came.

“ At least… Can we ask Onyx?” Liam pressed.

“ What would Onyx know?” Mira said, amused.

Liam was taken aback by her tone. “ I don’t know… Didn’t she grow up in some crazy witch cult on the ocean? That does a bunch of complex magics and whatnot? She probably knows something.”

“ I will not be asking Onyx.” She pronounced.

“ I will then!” He said, exasperated.

“ No. I’m not even supposed to know about this, okay? I’ll come up with something, just… Let me figure it out. I’m supposed to figure it out alone.” She said in an offhand manner.

“ Everyone else knows. They’re all getting help.” He nearly pleaded.

“ These books have been very helpful. Did you know the Romanian Longhorn prefer to impale their prey and then roast them before consumption?” She looked over at him then, wondering if he’d enjoy that fact. He looked pale.

“ You’re such an asshole, Mira.” He said, slamming his book about the Mythical Marsupial Lizards of Australia shut. He stood up abruptly.

Mira was briefly taken aback, “ What? I’m telling you not to worry.” She added under her breath, “ I knew you would do this if I told you…” And then louder, “ How did you even find out? And why presume I wanted your help?”

“ Honestly, Miranda, fuck you. Enjoy getting burnt to fucking crisp.” He said much louder than was appropriate for a library before storming out, leaving Miranda perplexed, with the urge to puke rising up again.

 

               ~~

               Mira did not puke again, likely because she hadn’t eaten anything in quite some time, but she did find her head swimming and had to leave the library, words, diagrams, to cure the nausea.

               Exhausted, feeling like surely one tug at a thread of her sweater would have her undone in a tangle on the floor, she returned to the camp. The other students were sitting at the large table under the canopy, apparently working on something Mira had forgotten. She caught a glimpse of Liam, appearing to be sulking, sitting beside Onyx. Deciding she did not want another confrontation, she proceeded to ignore everyone and went straight for the greenhouse.

               Upon entering she simply sunk to her knees and buried her hands in a bed of dirt, her head then fell on top of it, breathing in the petrichor smell as if it would calm her. She heard the door creaking open a moment later and braced herself for another barrage of concerns from Liam, but she did not move from her spot in the dirt.

               Instead Onyx’s soothing musical voice said, “ Liam told me.”

               Mira moved her head, so her cheek was resting on the dirt but she could look up at Onyx, who was shutting the door of the greenhouse behind her. “ I thought he wanted me to burn to a crisp.”

               “ He’s very upset.” The other girl said, looking down at her. “ Very concerned.”

               Mira said nothing.

               “ I don’t know how to help you.” Onyx said, plainly.

               “ I don’t want you to help me.” Sighed Mira.

               “ Do you have a plan?”

               “ Yes.” Lied Mira.

               Onyx then came towards her and knelt down beside her. She rested her hand on Mira’s back. The two of them sat like that for some time.

               ~~

               Mira was the first to the champion’s tent the next afternoon. After a brief but complicated lesson on enchanted porcupine quill use, Moll had lead her there, seeming completely unconcerned.

               “ Ready Mira?” She’d asked, lightly.

               Mira hadn’t responded. Being moments away from death made any and all social interactions seem like a laborious waste of energy. Moll hadn’t seemed to noticed, gave her a squeeze on the shoulder and shoved her into the tent, disappearing to wherever the judges went off to.

               Ludo Bagman was the only one inside, and jumped immediately into character upon her entrance.

               “ You ready for the first task?” He asked, winking at her.

               She nodded dully.

               He laughed at her lack of enthusiasm, “ Bit nervy are we? Only natural! Only natural! Ah, and Fleur! Our two loveliest champions first to arrive.” He beamed as Fleur entered the tent, looking pale and jittery. Mira frowned, Cedric was much lovelier than Mira, wasn’t that a common fact?

               The rest of the champions slowly filed in, each showing their own state of anxiety. From the outside Mira might have appeared to be the calmest, but the emotions bubbling inside her were a storm of contradictions.

               Once they’d all arrived Bagman began explaining what was to come, and then made them all reach into a silky bag and pull out a model of what they were to face. When it was Mira’s turn she felt a zap of electricity in her fingertip as it brushed something in the bag, she almost pulled her hand out without taking a model, but refrained and pulled out a small shimmering white dragon.

               “ Ah, the antipodean opaleye! Lovely, lovely.” Said Ludo. There was a small number 5 hanging around the neck. So, she’d be last.

               The sounds of hundreds of people walking by and filling the stands was almost intolerable. The excitement they could hear in the other people seemed to grow the anxiety of all five waiting students. Ludo, unphased by their state, left them with a chipper “good luck!”

Cedric paced, his face green, and Mira did not envy that he would be first. Harry looked younger than he ever had, seeming to shrink up inside himself. Krum looked sour, Fleur was shaking.

When Ludo’s voice over a loudspeaker rang out they all simultaneously shuddered. Cedric walked past Mira to exit the tent. Without thinking she reached out and gently brushed his wrist with her fingers. He smiled, although very weakly, at the gesture, before taking a deep breath and exiting the tent.

Listening to people walk by had already put Mira so on edge, the sounds of Cedric literally fighting a dragon did nothing to improve this. She was starting to wish she _had_ gone first, then she’d at least be dead already. She did her best to tune out Ludo’s commentary.

Fleur went out, and then Krum. All of them receiving victorious cheers from the crowds. It was only Harry and Mira left, but Harry was going to be called any second.

“ Good luck Harry.” She said softly, sensing he was as close to vomiting as she was.

He gave her a look that might have said thanks, but communicating intense anxiety more than anything. And then his name was called, and he was out in the ring, facing his own dragon.

With no one to see her, Mira laid down on the floor and stared at the tent ceiling. She was going to die today. She was sure of it. She had no plan, other than to die, and she was trying her best to come to terms with it but this pesky will to live kept climbing up her throat in what might have been a sob. She held it back.

She thought of Liam. He’d clearly been very concerned for her life, and she’d what? Pushed him away like it was annoying? She thought of Onyx, who’d sat with her for however long and not said anything, just rested her hand on her back. Why had she done that? _I’ll never know because I’m going to die._

               Her eyes started to sting and then her name was called and she wasn’t letting herself think, just getting up and walking  towards the end of her life. She exited the tent, her eyes adjusting to the light, to the hush of sounds ringing around her. She saw it then.  A thirty meter tall, shimmering white, impending death sentence, looking at her right in the eye. All the breath left her body.


	13. The First Task

All she could think was that she should have eaten breakfast.

               Wasn’t that an athlete’s rule? A proper pre-game meal? She couldn’t even remember her last meal, and now she was going to faint, from hunger, exhaustion, and everyone would think it was the crushing fear weighing down on her. She felt like her insides were vibrating. What if she dissolved into thin air?

                The dragon, previously inspecting the eager watching crowd with a gaze that was somehow lazy and mild, yet fierce and protective all the same, shifted her gaze, fixing it on Mira. _Oh okay, definitely not going to dissolve. Definitely one hundred percent rooted in this physical realm._

               Mira clasped her wand tightly, hands sweating as she stared at the dragon. She could feel hundreds of pairs of eyes on her and the hush of the crowd as they analyzed her every breath. What if she puked now? In front of everyone? Why was she worried about embarrassing herself by being sick when she was seconds away from her death?

               A sharp exhale escaped her body. She’d not realized she’d been holding her breath, but something strange happened when she inhaled again. A feeling of calm pulsed through her, a fuzzy pressure seeping up from her toes, her navel, chest, ears, crown of the head. Inquiring, cautious, yellow eyes the only thing captivating her full awareness.

               Neither she nor the dragon moved a muscle. She felt, for a moment, content to stand on that spot until she passed out from exhaustion. A small thought trickled into her fogged brain, _they’d let me pass out, wouldn’t they?_ And she knew the task wouldn’t end until she did something. With a loose grasp, she raised her wand.

               A ripple of muscle seemed to curl through the dragon, her haunches tensing in preparation, the yellow eyes breaking contact with Mira’s, shifting to the gnarled wand. A small stream of smoke began to curl from her nostrils.

               A shiver of awareness spun itself up Mira’s spin and she tucked the wand away, eyes remaining focused on the dragon, attempting to recapture her gaze. The nostrils ceased smoking, but the ready to pounce stance remained. Mira held out both her hands, to show they were empty. The dragon, so barely perceptible that Mira thought she might be imagining it, seemed to unwind, their eyes locking once more.

The only natural thing to do then was think:

_I can’t hurt you. At all. I am utterly useless._

The dragon blinked.  Mira’s gaze fell to the clutch of eggs tucked protectively by the dragon’s middle.  A shinning golden egg gleamed against the dull others.

_They shouldn’t have moved you from your home at a time like this._

The dragon remained still.

_One isn’t like the other’s. You can sense it._

Mira saw the dragon’s eyes flicker towards the golden egg, a motion that would be lost on anyone watching from the stands.

_I’ll take it away, and you can return home._

The question of whether or not their communication was real or imagined was not relevant at the time. Mira continued.

_This isn’t fair for you._

               Suddenly feeling how firmly her feet were rooted, Mira unlocked and took a single step forward. The dragon did nothing but watch. She lifted the other foot and began a slow, even, walk towards her opponent, maintaining eye contact.

_Thank you._

She moved slowly, pausing often, and keeping her hands outstretched and visible. The closer she got the more she felt herself vibrating, increasing to a steady tremble, her heart diligently racing but her mind remaining in a deep set fog that allowed no stray thoughts to penetrate. It felt like a full year passed before she made it across the ring, and like no time at all before she was suddenly there, arms distance from the greatest beast she’d ever witnessed. She was close enough to make out beautiful swirling patterns in the dragons milky scales. Mesmerized, she paused before picking up the egg. The dragon had turned to watch her, curiously. They made eye contact again, and it blinked at her. She slowly reached her hand out and brushed the glittering scales. The dragon laid her head down and have a long exhale, as if she was completely exhausted by the ordeal. The pressure holding Mira together seemed to uncurl itself from her mind, slowly leaking away.

She peered around at the non-reacting crowd. She wasn’t entirely sure what to do now that she had the egg. She carefully stepped away from the real eggs, tucking the golden one underneath her arm. A puzzled looking Hagrid walked out of the side of ring and waved his hand, motioning for her to come his way. He was barely looking at Mira though, an expression of awe trained on the massive dragon behind her. Miranda made her way towards him. Slowly, a confused, quiet, clap broke out. The entire audience seemed unsure about what they had just witnessed. Wasn’t this supposed to be a spectacle? A feat of daring? And all she’d done was walk over and pick it up as if death wasn’t looming thirty meters above her.

A severe looking woman in emerald green robes and spectacles entered the ring, ushering her and Hagrid, who was still dazed by the glorious dragon, out of the course. She seemed at a loss for words, opening her mouth and closing it again several times.

“ Well… That was…” Hagrid began, and frowned, tried again, “ What ya do?” The other Professor scowled at him, but half-heartedly. She seemed to be wondering the same.

“ I’m not… really sure.” Mumbled Mira, as she watched a group of wizards pass them and enter the course, wands raised towards the dragon. She wanted to watch what they did to her, but was ushered away from the ring.

Hagrid opened his mouth in confusion but was interrupted from saying anything by Liam bursting down the steps of the bleachers and barreling towards Mira. The energy of his entrance seemed out of place, and startled Mira out of her remaining calm.

He scooped her up in a very tight hug, nearly lifting her from the ground. “ I’m so glad you survived.” He breathed. Mira felt dazed, unprepared for Liam’s intensity.

She hesitantly returned his hug, considering how she’d been treating him the past few weeks she wasn’t entirely sure why he’d want to be near her, but then she thought she was just glad he still did and hugged him tighter.

“ That was truly the most boring spectacle I’ve ever witnessed.” He said, grinning, setting her down. “ Although maybe the most anxiety inducing. What the hell did you do?” In a lower voice he added, “ freaky dream thing?”

“ Um… Yeah, not really sure.” Mira shrugged, she rubbed her eye. Why did she feel so foggy and distant? Before she’d entered the course she’d been so rung through with anxiety, it had been a level of wakefulness she thought she’d never come down from.

“ Not sure?” Liam asked, seeming surprised and knowing simultaneously.

“ It might been a dream thing? Like, connected somehow? I don’t know. I just thought.” Mira said, blinking.

“ You… thought?” He asked sceptically.

“ Yep.” Mira nodded, no energy behind it.

“ Well if that would work for anyone it would be you.” He sounded almost wary of her, but seconds later strung his arm around her shoulder. “ Better check out your score.” He led her to a spot they could see the judges box and watched as they each shot out a silver ribbon with Mira’s allotted score on it.

Moll gave her a 10.

Dumbledore gave her an 8.

Karkaroff gave her a 1.

Madame Maxime gave her a 2.

Bagman gave her a 5.

And Crouch have her a 4.

By far the worst score.

               Liam turned towards her, “ Well… that’s lackluster.” But Mira had hardly been paying attention, she was staring at the wizards wrangling the great dragon out of the ring, using spells that flew sparks and warranted more defensive action out of the dragon than anything Mira had done.

               “ This entire tournament is arbitrary bullshit, isn’t it?” Said Mira, with more sadness than bite as she watched the dragon attempt to resist the powerful magics being fired at her. All this for a task a bunch of dumb teenagers have to complete?

               Liam raised an eyebrow at her comment but didn’t say anything. The same witch in emerald robes from before had approached them. “ Ms. Zellick, your presence is required in the champions tent.”

               “ Hmm?” She said, snapping out of a daze. The witch repeated it, giving her a stern look. She nodded in response.

               Harry and Cedric both then appeared out of a separate area, Harry inspecting a freshly healed shoulder and Cedric with some sort of orange paste on half his face. Mira was at first startled by Cedric’s injury but was more aware of the look of concern Liam was giving him.

               “ Great work out there.” Liam stated, staring directly at Cedric, and then suddenly becoming aware of Harry, “ both of you.” He added, flushing a little.

               “ Thanks!” Piped Harry, practically glowing from his adrenaline rush. Cedric beamed at them, noticeably afflicted by the same excitement. Mira was startled by the pang of jealousy she felt towards them.

               “ Well, enjoy your special champion time together.” Liam said, stepping back towards the crowd of spectators exiting the bleachers. Harry, Cedric and Mira began making their way back towards the tent.

               “ So Mira… erm… What exactly did you do?” Harry asked, a little cautiously.

               “ If I tell you it’ll break the spell.” Mira lied, not wanting to explain herself. Harry raised an eyebrow, and Cedric also gave her a funny look. She considered winking at them but decided that would make everyone uncomfortable and just went into the tent, silently.

               As Ludo explained how the egg was some sort of clue Mira felt the eyes of the others on her. They all seemed to be sizing her up, unable to discern something about her. She wasn’t entirely unaccustomed to this, but did find it annoying. She felt herself beginning to sulk. The other champions however, all seemed elated. The adrenaline of having survived singlehandedly facing a dragon had them all in a buzzing high. Why didn’t Mira feel that way? Why did she feel melancholic? Why wasn’t anyone else concerned about the treatment of the dragons? Or better, why couldn’t she just _not_ think about it like everyone else?

The argument for her poor scores, Mira later learned, was that she didn’t appear to use any magic and there was no way of deducing whether or not she’d simply experienced a stroke of dumb luck. Dumbledore was of the mind that such luck was impossible when it came to dragons. Bagman seemed unsure about this and settled for somewhere in the middle, Crouch seemed like he might not have even watched the ordeal. The other headmasters were biased. Moll gave each of the champions a score of ten, so her opinion didn’t count for much. When the other judges questioned her she said “ They’re teenagers. Against dragons.” As if that settled the matter.

                After being filled in about the golden egg containing some kind of clue Mira wandered back to the camp. She passed several groups of students still hanging around after the task and most of them stopped talking when she neared, began whispering, raised eyebrows in her direction. Liam had quickly filled her in on what the other champions had done to get their prize, but she’d heard enough through the tent beforehand to know they had all been more exhilarating than she was. She made eye contact with anyone looking her way, and they all turned away quickly. What were they thinking? That she was a fraud? That she’d succeeded due to dumb luck? Whatever it was, she didn’t care. She didn’t care that she’d come in last, she didn’t care about this entire tournament, now more than ever.

               All she wanted now was to be alone, in bed, eating with a plate balanced on her stomach in a posture that might induce choking. She had the sinking feeling she would not be allowed to do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the longer pauses between chapters, I've developed an eye twitch that goes whack when I look at screens. Seems to be on the mend, so hopefully more soon. Thanks for reading, kudos, comments.


	14. Blue

Mira was unable to attain her wish of falling asleep with a belly fully of unhealthy snacks and crumbs in her sheets. In their clearing the Tilson students awaited, expectantly, unenthused.

               “ What the _hell_ kind of champion are you?” Chel quipped as soon as she came in view from behind the trees. Her arms were crossed and she had a very sour expression on her face.

               “ Oh come on, Chel. Let’s see you walk up to a dragon unscathed.” Liam retorted, to which Chel only slumped more.

               “ That was rather amazing…” Admitted Nora, who unlike Chel, seemed to appreciate the fact that she’d handled it in such a boring manner. “ What exactly did you do?” There it was again.

               Mira approached the fire where they were all sitting. “ Couldn’t say,” she shrugged, in no mood to elaborate.

               “ What do you mean--” began Rina.

               But Mira interrupted her, distracted by plummeting blood sugar. “ Has anyone got junk food?” Rina and Chel exchanged a look, while Nora looked up to the sky and shook her head. “ Um, what’s with that reaction?”

               “ I just want to be perfectly clear that this was much more a selfish endeavour than having anything to do with actually celebrating you.” Chel said, standing up. Rina hopped up as well and they both retreated towards the tents.

               “ What’s that all about?” Mira questioned. Nora simply sighed, and Onyx gave a knowing smile but didn’t share.

               Liam sprawled backwards. “ Ain’t got a clue.” He said, yawning.

               Moments later Chel and Rina returned, arms weighted down with heavy bundles.

               “ You’re our excuse, Mira.” Rina chirped, setting down in front of her a large amber bottle. She then handed out several more to the other students, who each took one, even Nora, despite her reluctant appearance. Chel placed on the table a spread of confections that made Mira’s mouth water.

               “ What is this?” Mira asked, amazed. “ How did you get all this?”

               “ Swiped it.” Chel stated nonchalantly, pulling the cap off her bottle with her teeth, spitting it on the ground, and taking a long swig.

               “ You went on a mission of thievery and didn’t think to ask me along?” Liam asked, mock offense.

               “ If you didn’t expose us in a second, you’d feel so guilty and make us all return it.” Responded Chel. Liam shrugged, his grin a little sheepish.

               “ We didn’t steal anything!” Rina exclaimed. “ We simply asked the very lovely house elves if we might have some treats. And the butter beer we purchased with our own good wizarding coin.”

               “ Where’d you get butter beer?”

               “ Hogsmeade.” Rina answered.

               “ Hogsmeade?” Mira wrinkled her nose, unscrewing the cap off her bottle.

               “ On my fuck, Miranda. I asked you to go there with me like a thousand times last week.” Liam groaned.

               “ What? I don’t remember that?”

               “ You were too busy with your head up your ass about the first task. And then all you do is fucking walk around like nothing. Fucking Circe.” Mumbled Chel, taking another long swig. The other students tried to look like they didn’t find her statement amusing, but Mira could see the grins they were supressing. Mira figured she should apologize for being a huge dick but just took a swig of butter beer instead. She wondered if you could actually get drunk off this stuff.

               The six of them continued to hangout around the fire until it got dark. Despite Chel’s frequent snide remarks, it was relatively pleasant and jovial, however Mira couldn’t help but feel it was somewhat forced. Liam was definitely going overboard on the jokes and Rina was filling space with chatter more pressingly even than usual. Nora seemed content enough, but Mira could easily discern she’d rather be reading. Onyx seemed unchanged, stoic as ever. She caught Mira’s eye several times, the glow of the fire flickering across her stone face.

               It was getting late into the night when Moll returned to them. She seemed less energetic than usual and only gave them a dim smile before retreating to her own tent. She made no remark on them staying up past curfew or where they’d managed to obtain all the sweets from. Mira watched as she retreated and after a moment went after her.

               At the door of her tent she hesitated, unsure how you’re supposed to announce yourself when she couldn’t knock on a door, but the tent flapped open of its own accord. It was bigger than the students’, with many book shelves and strange magical objects buzzing about. Moll was sitting behind a desk, which had a crystal  ball, a midnight blue candle, and a large stack of disorganized parchment with many hectic notes scribbled across them.

               “ What is it, Mira?” She asked, seeming truly exhausted.

               “ I was just wondering…” Mira began, nor entirely sure how to proceed. Moll looked at her inquiringly. “ I was wondering if you knew how I was able to get passed the dragon.”

               Moll let out a laugh, some of her usual mischief returning to her eyes. “ You’ve no idea? No guess? Come on.”

               Mira just stared at her, not sure how to react.

               “ Mira. This isn’t the first time you’ve communed with unusual spirits.” Moll said in a serious tone, but her eye sparkled.

               “ Right but… Dragons aren’t spirits, it’s not the same thing--” Just then a terrible loud shrieking noise echoed through the clearing, sending an uncomfortable shiver down her spin, she jumped. It stopped as quickly as it began, and was followed by laughter that sounded not unlike Chel and Rina’s.

               Moll seemed entirely unperturbed, “ I think you better go have a look.” She motioned towards the door with her head and smiled lightly. Confused but understanding that Moll wouldn’t be providing her any of the answers she wished for, she headed back out towards the other students.

               When she arrived at the fire again she saw Rina holding the golden egg and Onyx explain something in a hushed voice. In her post-task melancholy, Mira had forgotten all about the egg and the clue that was supposed to be inside.

               “ What the hell was that?” Mira asked, but she was eyeing the egg. Had they gone riffling through her bag to get it?

               Rina blushed. “ Sorry Mira, I just saw it peeking out and… Chel told me it was no big deal.” She accused. Chel only shrugged in response.

               “ So… _that_ made that god awful noise?” Mira asked. “ _That’s_ supposed to be my clue?”

               “ Don’t sound so put off, we’ve already figured it out for you.” Chel huffed.

               “ _Onyx_ figured it out.” Corrected Nora.

               Thoroughly confused Mira looked at Onyx, who seemed serious and unamused. After a moment of thought she said slowly, “ it’s merpeople.”

               Mira made no reaction, knowing exactly nothing about merpeople that wasn’t mythology. “ Merpeople sound awful.” Was all she could think to say.

               Onyx gave a slight smile, but her eyes remained serious, “ You’ve got to put it under water to really hear it.”   

               “ Oh. Guess I’ll go dunk my head in the bath then.” Mira half-heartedly joked. She supposed she would actually have to do that.

               Chel hopped up from her seat then, “ Yep, better do that. I’m _bloody knackered._ ” She said in a imperfect British accent before heading off to her tent. The other students seemed to be of the same mind and Rina shoved the egg into Mira’s hands with another apologetic smile.

               Liam lingered by Mira’s side. “ You doing alright?” His voice was hushed, soothing.

               Mira rolled her eyes, “ I’m fucking tired.”

               “ Yeah well… You’ve been through a lot.” He mumbled. Mira gazed into the fire, letting the heat of it on her face overcome her senses for a second. “ So did… Moll give you any answers?”

               Mira sighed, “ Nope. Not at all.”

               “ Course not.” Liam also looked into the fire, but she could feel his eyes shifting to her every now and again.

               “ What is it, Liam?” She asked, not impatiently, tiredly.

               “ You gonna go to bed now?”

               “ Um… I should, I guess. Feel kinda wired though. Like too tired to fall asleep, you know?” She said honestly. She looked up suddenly from the fire, “ Looks like we got stuck with the cleaning up, huh?” She said, noticing the array of half-eaten food and empty bottles.

               “ I got it.” Liam said, and took out his wand and waved it. The untidiness quickly sorted itself out, the fire died down to embers, then to nothing. They stood there in the dark a moment.

               “ I could never do that.” Mira mused.

               “ What do you mean?” Liam asked, almost hesitantly. She hadn’t spoken to him without going off in weeks and now that she was he was ready for it to crumble any second.

               “ Spell magic. Wand magic. I just can’t.” She didn’t know why she felt like talking about this now, but suddenly it was as if a gate had been lifted, and she needed to talk, needed to make sense of the mess around her.

               “ You can, I’ve seen you.” Liam said assuredly.

               “ But it’s always kind of funny, isn’t it?”

               “ Everything about you is kind of funny.” He said, nudging her.

               “ Ass.” She quipped, but laughed. The thought of asking him to stay up with her crossed her mind, but he looked tired and surely didn’t possess her pulsing nervousness, the same amount of thoughts and questions racing through his head. So instead she told him to go to bed and sat in the dark, alone, staring up at a star dusted sky and trying to think about nothing. She wished, for the first time in a long time, that she could pull up a dream meditation, to walk in something pleasant. She tried to conjure it, briefly, but she could feel something there, like a veil she couldn’t find the edge of, blocking her.

               In her current state this inability frustrated her, and she couldn’t maintain focus, decided to give up and was about to walk back to her own tent, to toss and turn and panic about not getting any sleep, when she noticed a faint blue light coming from the direction of the greenhouses.

               Somewhat intrigued, but more resigned to the fact that she wasn’t going to sleep and she might as well find something outsider herself that was stimulating, she approached. The glow was emanating from her and Onyx’s greenhouse and she could hear a faint shuffling coming from inside. Did some forest creature accidentally wander in there? There were wards around the clearing, but wards could be broken… She unlatched the door, feeling a fleeting moment of anxiety but then remembering the dragon, she calmed down.

               It was humid inside, the glass was fogged and the air thick. The plants almost seemed to be humming in the bright moonlight filtering through. Mira noticed then, the extraordinary amount of growth that had been happening beneath her finger tips over the last few weeks, hurried along by magic of course. Vines crawled, trees yearned upwards to the light, undergrowth sprawled in rich greens. An exotic sweet fragrance was wafting off the night blooming enchanted  dwarf ylang ylang Onyx had planted, an experiment she was attempting. It appeared to be taking favourably to the conditions, Mira noted, enjoying the intoxicating scent. The light, the soft noises, were coming from the back corner, hidden by the middle rows of thick foliage. Mira padded softly towards it, remaining quiet.

               Peering through dark leaves Mira saw Onyx sitting by the yellow ylang ylang blossoms, basked half in silver moonlight and half in the soft blue light coming from a strange looking flower beneath her fingers. There were several of these flowers, scattered beneath the ylang ylang, all emitting shades of light from their petals.

               Mira wondered if she should leave Onyx alone, but fearing she had overheard her entering and was waiting for her to make herself known, she decided to walk into view. Onyx didn’t turn to look, but she knew the other girl was aware of her presence.

               “ Your experiments seem to be paying off.” Her voice sounded shrill and misplaced in the hum of the night, but Onyx smiled.

               “ Yes. I suppose so.” She looked at Mira then, searchingly. “ So you survived the dragon.” She said calmly, and Mira couldn’t tell if she was teasing her about how easy it had been, shocked, or pleased.

               “ I suppose so.” Mira felt like the electricity from beneath the flower petals had surged up, and into her own blood, making her tongue, her mind, numb of what to say.

               “ Merpeople will be different.” Something dark passed over Onyx’s expression then.

               “ Yes.” Mira thought that was probably an opening to ask more about them, Onyx clearly possessed knowledge, but in that moment she didn’t want to know. She preferred being ignorant to her task, it had worked out this last time, and besides, there were months to stress yet.

               A desperate wish to caress Onyx’s face entered Mira, to hold her hand, to put her cheek against her bare shoulder. Instead, she stood there, immobile, dumb. After a few moments of scraping her brain to find something to say Onyx stood up, glided towards her, reached out and grasped Mira’s hand. Her fingers were damp with residual soil.

               “ You need to sleep, Mira. You haven’t been taking care of yourself.” Onyx said softly.

               “ I don’t, I don’t… know, I, maybe.” She had begun by wanting to retort, how dare anyone else put in their thoughts to how she took care of herself? But this was Onyx, who was quiet and concerned, and she didn’t want to be mean to her. She immediately blushed at her unintelligible sentence, looked away from Onyx, became more embarrassed by how obviously flustered she was.

               Onyx was smiling, biting back a laugh? When her other hand came up and tucked a loose curl behind Mira’s ear. Mira felt lightheaded, wanted to lean in and kiss her but couldn’t move. _There’s nothing to read into, she’s just being nice to me._

               “ Goodnight, Mira.” And she let go of her hand and was gone. Mira stared at the blue luminescent flowers and wanted to tear their roots out.


	15. Brain Fire

Moll had cancelled sixteen lectures since their arrival at Hogwarts. She’d also doubled up on independent study time, which in other words, meant she’d squashed the amount of her actual teaching time in half, without requiring the assistance of another professor.

               She had mentioned this, just mentioned, in sparse detail (or more accurately she had _complained_ ) in a letter to Celina, who had seen through her immediately. She received a prompt, flustered reply about “ risking valuable time in educating young minds” and “ giving too much room for the students to involve themselves in mischief”. Moll had scoffed. Involve themselves in mischief? She certainly hoped so, there was nothing else so character building. As for risking valuable time, what about her own time? She had needs, obligations, that required attending to, and teaching students a curriculum she’d never realized was so irrelevant until now, was a waste for them all. She was a wise witch, albeit fickle in her interests, but she passed along enough valuable information in the lectures she did facilitate. Letting herself be spread thin would only decrease the quality of everything she provided them, she thought, miffed.

               Celina had also asked after Miranda, wondering why Moll was so lacking in her descriptions of the curious young champion. Moll had puzzled over this herself. Why was she so hesitant to write about Miranda’s miraculous treatment of the dragon? She was hesitant to speak about it with the other professors here, when they questioned her, and she was hesitant to explain anything to Miranda herself. She knew what was going on, of course. Or _thought_ she knew, you could never be _exactly_ sure in these matters, but some force outside herself told her not to get ahead of the matter, not to speak anything out loud as to make it concrete. Her intuition seemed to tell her, let Miranda find out herself, let Miranda determine her own description of herself, before you meddle, don’t cast her in a binding expectation. This was something she applied to almost all her students, but now, in this particular scenario, it seemed more important than ever, and she did not understand why.

               So she shoved the matter aside. Ignored speaking of Miranda entirely in her next letter to Celina. Simply wrote, “ Liam is budding, will bloom in full vibrancy any day now”, “ Chelsea is as arrogant as ever, but being unwittingly influenced by Rina’s good natured sociability”, “ Onyx is the same as ever, diligent, graceful, fulfilling my personal prophesy of her becoming one of the most terrifying good hearted people in the wizarding world” and “ Nora put down a book and has all the snobby French girls under her quiet spell.” Writing this, she was filled with emotion for her students.

               Yes, yes they do deserve more. So she set herself a goal, to finally have it organized that her students be able to join those from the other schools. This whole tournament was about magical cooperation, wasn’t it? To refuse her suggestion would be counter the rules. She gave a conniving smile as she thought of what she was going to say to Karkaroff.

~~

               Two weeks had passed since the first task and Miranda had moments where she felt like a person again. Other moments, her brain was on fire, she couldn’t think any single train of thought through to the end, craved movement, was distracted by anything. She hadn’t experienced this type of agitation since learning to control her dreams, and before then the frantic energy was only a manifestation of sleep deprivation. She found herself speaking without thinking, crashing early at night and waking up extremely early. She even craved flight, which was something she usually avoided, feeling very clumsy on a broom.

               Rina was excited by the change in Mira’s disposition, didn’t mind that she spoke without thinking. Chel was amused, taunted her, enabled bad decision making. Nothing more serious than delaying essay writing and telling an elaborate lie to a group of second years had arisen. So far.

               She over exuberantly said hello to her fellow champions in the hallways, spoke a rough and near incomprehensible French with some of Nora’s new friends, mocked Hogwarts professors a little louder than she should have. These moments felt like she was walking a thin line and succeeding, exhilarated her, made her feel like she was escaping herself. But other moments she would crash, feel deeply foolish, ashamed, remember the melancholy of the first task and be soaked in apathy. Liam was distanced from her. Always kind, but too kind. Where he normally would have been honest, snarky, joking, he was polite. This distressed her, but her mind was burning so fast, firing so quickly, she didn’t have the ability to think deeply about it, to examine why or what she could do beyond trying to speak normally with him.

               Her relationship with Onyx continued to grow and continued to strain. Previously the long silences of the other girl had made her nervous but she had assumed that was just Onyx’s way. Now, with her mind surging, she felt it was her fault. Where she would have sat in heavy silence she now grasped desperately for conversation. Onyx’s reaction was more often than not to raise an eyebrow, give a simple reply that was not rude in tone but something behind the words told Mira that Onyx knew very well she was forcing something unnatural. In her low periods, she would promise herself to _stop, just stop_ , and sit and be quiet. She tried, again and again, to reconnect with the dreaming state. The veil continued to prevent her passage, but she felt, or perhaps only hoped, she was slowly beginning to lift it. One night, for a second, she’d returned to the peaceful meadow she’d guided the other student through. It had been so brief however it seemed possible that she’d only imagined it very vividly in her waking mind. She did think the attempt calmed her though, and tried to bring that mentality to class, especially when working in the greenhouse.

Moll had dismissed the morning lecture for extra independent study time that morning, and Mira was trying to ignore the silence between herself and Onyx, who was working in the dirt on the opposite end of their blooming project. It felt tangible to her, as if the straining lack of words between them occupied its own physical space. So when Moll opened the door and broke the surrounding heaviness, Mira jumped visibly, but was relieved.

               “ Ah, the ylang ylang experiment seems to be coming along very well! And is that hibiscus? Interesting choice of placement. Very good.” She was bouncing on her heels, taking in large whiffs of the fragrances that hung heavy in the heated air. Miranda instantly felt a new type of anxiety, this time for Moll’s inspection. She wasn’t saying anything bad, _yet_.

               Moll did a tour around, complimented several of their choices, gave a few suggestions, seemed overall pleased, was about to leave when she remembered to say, “ I came in here with some special news.” Her eyes gleamed. “ As you are young and lively, I’m sure you’ll be glad to know there’s a dance coming up. In honour of the tournament.”

               “ A dance?” Asked Onyx sceptically, rubbing soil covered hands on her sleeves as she stood up.

               “ Yes! A dance! A ball! The Yule Ball! Stuffy old tradition, but I’m sure you can make it fun.” She winked at them, told them the date, and was gone.

               “ A dance?” Mira repeated, dumbly.

               “ In your honour.” Onyx smiled, Mira would have thought _smirked_ if that was something that Onyx did.

               “ Circe.” Mumbled Mira, thinking she’d have to attend, that eyes would be on her. At Tilson the older students often organized strange dance parties in the woods, with glittering orbs of light that bobbed through the trees and eerie music that carried on the wind. A loose tangle of students would dance to their own rhythm, often separately.  It was more of a ceremony, or ritual, with something that hinted at spiritual. Mira liked those dark evenings, but had a fairly good idea that a Hogwarts dance, a ball, The Yule Ball, was going to be a very different affair and it made her nervous.

               “ I suppose there’s no way out of it.” Onyx mused.

               “ You want out of it?” And Mira’s stomach did a funny drop. She didn’t really want to go herself, but the thought of Onyx being there made it somewhat tolerable…

               “ I don’t think it’s of the same tradition as what I’d… usually practice.” She said thoughtfully, before dropping down beside  a flower bed and tending to it. Not another word passed between them, to Mira’s great effort.

~~

It was dinner in The Great Hall when Onyx and Mira learned that none of the other Tilson students had been informed about The Yule Ball. The two of them had completely forgotten about it. Or rather, Mira assumed Onyx had and wanted to seem as if she had too, but in reality, she was quite stressed.

               “ A ball? A _Ball?_ ” Rina cried, dumbstruck. She’d just learned from a Hufflepuff fifth year sitting beside them about the upcoming event. “ Did you hear that guys, there’s a ball! Why didn’t Moll tell us?” Rina turned to the rest of the Tilson students to say, except for Nora, who was sitting at the Ravenclaw table with the Beauxbaton students. Chel let out a very unimpressed groan.

               “ She told us.” Onyx admitted.

               “ What? When!” Rina slammed her goblet of pumpkin juice down on the table.

               “ Oh, not everyone. Mira and I. This morning.”

               This sent Rina into another series of flabbergast cries, and Chel frowned deeply, but for once, didn’t give her opinion on the matter.

               “  So who you gonna ask to go with you?” Liam said teasingly to Mira.

               “ What? You have to go with someone?” The idea of bringing a date hadn’t even crossed her mind. Weren’t you just supposed to show up? Let loose?

               “ Well… I mean, it’s a _ball._ ” Liam said, as if that made everything obvious.

               “ I do not understand.”

               “ Ball. _Ball._ ” Mira had heard that word so many times today it was beginning to lose its meaning entirely, and sound extremely ridiculous. “ That’s a fancy old term for a dance, bet it means you’ve got to dress up classy and bring a date to match.” Liam mused.

               “ That’s stupid.” Mira said plainly, and noticed a flash of amusement on Onyx’s face, who was observing them from across the table. She blushed at the attention, focused on Liam, who was frowning.  “ Who are _you_ going to ask?”

               His frown deepened.

               “ Oh, I know.” Mira said, he raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged. She didn’t want to say it in front of everyone, but she had an inkling of an idea that Cedric and Liam would look father _fetching_ in matching dress robes, and that that particular vision would never make it to the physical world.

~~

               Liam was indeed thinking about Cedric. His little crush was growing a bit more than he was comfortable with, and imagining the two of them together, publically sharing affection, was tantalizing, but it wasn’t possible. Cho existed, was adorable, possessed Cedric’s attention, affection, and Liam was just some boy looking to distract himself from an ill-fated past love.

               When Mira said “ Oh, I know,” her tone, her expression really did seem to indicate she knew exactly what he was thinking, not only aware of his crush but aware of the impossibility of it. Her unspoken sympathy made him feel comforted, but someone else recognizing the hopelessness also made him melancholic, made it seem undoubtedly real.

               He was extremely grateful that Mira was talking normally to him, in fact, seemed to be more open with him than she ever had been. And he knew he’d pushed hard to get her to that state, but her unrelenting unpleasantness towards him before the first task had taken a toll. He forgave her, he understood, but he didn’t feel quite ready to jump head long into the depths of that friendship just now. He could feel that she had a million, probably traumatizing experiences, bubbling to the surface, that once they established a trust they would start gushing out. He knew that from the beginning, and wanted, truly, to be there to support her. But right now, now he felt like he had his own shit to deal with and didn’t want to unplug the bathtub of Mira’s thoughts, because he knew it would be torrential, that he would put himself aside until it was sorted. And, fuck, right now he just kind of wanted to wallow in his own misery over being unkindly ditched by Soren and having a crush on the most unattainable person in Hogwarts; a model student, classically handsome, _straight_ , champion.

               That is why he found himself leaving The Great Hall earlier than anyone else, because he wanted to be alone. And of course, _of fucking course,_ he had to run into said handsome crush.

               “ Liam!” He was smiling, genuinely smiling, and walking towards him with purposeful strides, having just excused himself from the Hufflepuff table. Was he purposefully leaving just to speak with him? Liam wanted to turn around and leave immediately.

               “ Cedric, hey.” He said, forcing himself to smile back. The smile on Cedric’s face faltered a moment, indicating that he had noticed Liam’s unnatural tone.

               “ You alright?” He said softly, falling in step beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder, they both began walking towards the front exit. Liam, feeling particularly moody, wanted to cry.

               “ Yes. I’m great. Your champion self?” He attempted at his usual easy confidence, felt like he failed, but Cedric gave no sign of noticing.

               “ Good, yeah.”

               “ So you heard about this whole dance thing?” Liam, feeling exasperated, like everything was terrible, decided he just might as well break his own heart a little more.

               “ Well, yeah.”

               “ Uhhh huh, you going with someone?” His voice was affected and Cedric was eyeing him strangely.

               “ Err, you know Cho?” Cedric’s face showed subdued confusion, as if he didn’t understand, didn’t like, that Liam was making him explain this.

               “ Oh boy, do I know Cho.” Liam laughed, Cedric looked incredulous, Liam coughed.  “ Sorry, I mean, I know who she is. You’ll look great together. I’m very… Umm, happy for you.”

               There was a long pause. Liam just about walked away.

“ You going with anyone?” Cedric finally said.

               “ What? Me? Going with someone?” Liam laughed, kicked at the ground, looked anywhere but at Cedric.

               “ Is that so unbelievable?” Cedric asked, and it seemed genuine. Liam couldn’t resist looking now, felt his stomach flop.

               “ It just might be, Cedric.” He couldn’t believe his own melodrama. Again there was a long pause. “ Soo… Did you want to tell me anything? Why’d you follow me out here?” It was too forward, Liam regretted it immediately.

               “ Um… No, I just… I wanted to say hello is all.”

               And that’s the end of their potential friendship, thought Liam. _Well, for the best, now I can squash this ridiculous crush and become a hermit like I’m destined to be._

Miranda appeared, rushing out of the great hall, which was still in view behind them.

               “ How dare you leave without me when you promised you’d show me how to properly conjure a Macedonian quail egg!” She cried, facing Liam.

               He immediately understood, softened towards her and felt guilty about not wanting to speak earlier. “ Sorry, I forgot.” He mumbled.

               “ Hello Cedric.” Mira smiled at him. “ I know Liam is a _very hot_ commodity around here but I _really_ need to learn this spell if I don’t want to fail this entire year and get killed in the next task. Ok! See ya!” And she pulled Liam by the arm down the steps and out the front door of the castle.

               “ How did you know?” Liam asked.

               “ I don’t know. You seemed really fucking down when you left and I saw him follow you out and I figured it probably wouldn’t end how you wanted.”

               “ And how did I want it to end?”

               “ Just guessing, but in a steamy embrace and the miraculous no-longer-existence of that  girl he usually clings to.” Liam couldn’t help but grin.

               “ I wouldn’t say he clings to her.” He offered.

               “ Not when you’re around.” Mira winked. She was still taking him by the arm.

               “ What does that mean?” He couldn’t let himself think anything but that Cedric was truly involved with Cho, he could no longer entertain this infatuation.

               “ That boy is in denial.”

               Pause. Okay, maybe he could entertain the infatuation a little. “ You think so?”

               “ Do you know any spells to make someone come out of the closet?”

               “ That’s very unethical.” But Liam was grinning.

               “ Love is unethical.” Mira scoffed, seeming to be joking and serious at once.

               “ Are _you_ okay?” 

               “ Fine. Fine. Want to help me figure out this idiotic clue from the golden egg? Apparently they’re stealing something from me.” Mira’s eyes seemed to be scanning everything, and Liam had the feeling her brain was doing the same thing.

               “ Who is?”

               “ The merpeople I can only guess.” She said in an exaggerated exhale.

               “ How would they manage that?”

               “ I’m guessing with the help of the esteemed educational staff.”

               “ Have you noticed what it is?” He paused to think about this. He hadn’t thought much about the second task, or what it was going to be like, it seemed such a safe distance away. Mira however, was clearly wrapped up in it at all times.

               “ Nope! But I’ve got to hold my breath for an hour to find it.” Her tone was light, betraying no anxiety.

               Liam paled. “ Oh god.” He was about to offer help, that they turn around and go back to the library instantly, but Mira was already off on another mental tangent.

               “ Anyway, I’ve just had a brilliant thought. You should take Viktor Krum to this dance.” She patted his hand, before extracting her arm from his and meandering off the path a little and examining a strange rock. She seemed to deem it ordinary and returned to him moments later.

               “ Um…”

               “ He’s a champion and also famous, therefore he ranks much higher than Cedric on the social hierarchy, and it will undoubtedly make him jealous.”

               Amused, perplexed, “ where are you getting this idea from?”

               She made an embarrassed face. “ Well… Terrible muggle high school fluff novels, actually.”

               “ There’s just one problem.”

               She mock frowned. “ No, there isn’t.”

               “ Krum shows no homosexual tendencies. I don’t think.”

               Mira shrugged. “ There’s definitely a spell for that.”

               Liam laughed. “ Circe, did someone spike your pumpkin juice?”

               “ I hope so!” She yelled unexpectedly loud and began running, hurtling down the path towards the woods.

               “ Why the hell are you running!” Liam yelled, but hurried to follow her.

               “ There’s too much going on!” She screamed back.

               “ What?”

               “ Life is just too much! Let’s sweat it the fuck off!”

               And he barrelled after her. They raced through the woods, yelling and joking with each other until they passed through the temperature barrier Moll had erected around their clearing. Feeling the cool December night fade to warm spring they stopped running. Liam bent over, panting, while Miranda threw herself onto the ground.

               The sudden movement, the chaotic progress of Mira’s thoughts, made Liam feel as if he was in for a crazy night. Something about her actions and words told him that she was present, engaged with the world, in a way she hadn’t been in months, and it was infectious.

               “ Should we steal Rina and Chel’s brooms?” Mira huffed.

               “  They’ll fucking kill us.” Liam panted.

               “ They can try.” Mira smiled mischievously from her place flopped on the ground, was about to suggest something further when Moll exited her tent.

               “ Miranda?” She called.

               “ Uh huh?”

               “ There’s a letter here, from Anya I do believe.” And Moll held out a thin envelope between her index and middle finger. Liam watched the chaotic energy sap out of Mira in that instant. She stood up quickly and took the letter, turned and met Liam’s eye.

               “ Sorry I… I have to answer this.” She grimaced, and then disappeared to her tent.

               Moll observed the interaction with mild interest on her face.

               “ You alright, Liam?” She asked, after a moment of the two of them standing there. His breath had returned, his pulse was slowly following.

               “ Yeah… yeah, fine.” He felt strangely abandoned. Like someone had promised him a rollercoaster ride, taken him to the top of the first drop, and then told him to get off and walk back down.

               “ Do make sure you treat yourself with the same care you would others.” She said, smiling softly. He felt oddly examined when she said those words.  “ Anyhow, I’m off for a nightcap with Karkaroff! See you in the morning!” And she strode past him, into the darkness of the wooded path.

               He stood there, alone in the dimming clearing, feeling torn between many different emotions.

              


	16. Presence of Past

 

               Onyx dropped a heavy, dusty, ancient looking book on the soil spattered table Mira was repotting plants on.

               “ What’s this?” She asked, gazing at it curiously. The runes on the front cover were indecipherable.

               “ Sea magic.” Mira’s head snapped up, Onyx met her eye. “ It’s old and temperamental and highly unadvisable for the average witch or wizard.”

               “ And you’re giving it to me because?” Mira’s heart was involuntarily fluttering at what she was not allowing herself to consider a thoughtful gesture.

               “ I’m not giving it to you.” Onyx’s face betrayed nothing.

               “ Okay…”

               “ I’m _lending_ it to you.”

               “ For… the tournament?”

               Onyx smiled in her _just about_ a smirk way. “ Yes.”

               “ Well thanks, but I’ve got it under control.” Mira looked back at her plants, then back to Onyx who was raising an eyebrow. She felt her cheeks colour. She swallowed, “ I’ll um… take a look.”

               Onyx only nodded and went back to her own work.

               Mira gazed at the book. She really was nowhere in discovering how to hold her breath for an hour in any magical way, but the tournament was still months away. She could afford to ignore it a little longer, couldn’t she? She doubted that without someone like Onyx around any of the other champions had even figured out how to listen to the clue, much less interpret it. She was already ahead, and her natural procrastinator self didn’t want to keep it that way.

She was also last in the tournament.

She had likely only survived out of dumb luck.

What if her luck ran out?

When Onyx disappeared around the snoring shrub – the most annoying specimen they’d grown – she opened the book.

               Most of it was equally as indecipherable as the cover. Written in ancient runes, illustrations of sea beings Mira had never fathomed and didn’t much like the idea of. There were notes, luckily in readable English, jammed in the margins. Whether written by Onyx or someone lost in the distant past was hard to tell. The book practically reeked of ancient magic, and the scent was startling, almost enough to have Mira give it back without so much as a thank you.

               But she didn’t much fancy dying in a frigid February lake. She kept turning pages, accidentally smudging soil and fingerprints on a few but doing her best to be delicate. She eventually came across an illustration of a woman, body emerging out of cauldron, half water, half human. In scribbled English beneath the rune title was written _One of the Sea._

 

* * *

 

               Liam was moping again. He couldn’t tell if he was mirroring the rainy grey fall or it was imitating him. No matter where the angst originated from, it was there and solid, and leaving a normally social and upbeat person angsty and wondering around alone.

               He took very particular care to avoid Cedric. _Obviously_ it was unhealthy to get over your old miserable crush by replacing it with a new, increasingly doomed one. It was unfair to himself and it was unfair to Cedric. He figured if he spent enough time mourning Soren now he would find that he didn’t need a replacement, be content on his own, and be able to simply be friends with Cedric.

               What could he remember about Soren? That he came back from a southern summer with freckles and a reddish tint in his hair and was snappier with his jokes than he had been before. Liam had noticed the change right away and it didn’t take Soren long to notice he was being seen and realize he liked it. Liam was playfully teasing with everybody but with Soren there was an undercurrent of something else, and when he had grabbed Liam’s hand and pulled him into an empty classroom to kiss him in a frenzy he’d gone entirely wobbly. Soren had stepped away with a smirk. He was a boy discovering a new kind of power, and Liam was entirely willing to be swayed by it.

               He felt stupid now, sitting in the astronomy tower, looking down at the grounds and being nipped by cool winds. Why couldn’t he see at the time that Soren was just testing new ground? Why’d he let himself go mushy for it? He didn’t feel so angry or used by Soren now, he felt more his own fault in it all. If he had really spoken his feelings, if he had really listened to Soren’s response, he wouldn’t be a fool now.

               He was startled out of his melancholic reminiscing by the scuffling of feet behind him. He turned to see.

               “ Sorry! I didn’t think anyone would be up here.” Exclaimed a familiar looking Ravenclaw girl. Was she one of Cho’s friends? Had the hung out before? What was her name, Melanie? Meredith?

               “ No worries, broke me out of my sulking spell.” Liam said, sounding much more chipper than he felt.

               “ Someone cast a sulking spell on you?” She asked, concerned.

               “ What? That’s a real spell?”

               “ I thought that’s what you said.” She said slowly, taking a few paces towards him.

               “ Oh! Just meant I was up here, sulking. But now you’re here so I best leave that until later.” He smiled up at her. After thinking about it she laughed and took a seat beside him.

               “ Liam right?” She asked.

               “ Yeah… Um, Marietta?” He decided on.

               “ Indeed!” She beamed at him, removing a large book from her bag.

               “ So what brings you up to this rainy cold tower in the middle of the day?”

               “ Free period. Come up here to study.” She said, idly flipping through her enormous book.

               “ All the wind whipping around the pages of your books must really help you focus.” He joked, noticing that was exactly what was happening.

               “ I usually charm the place to block that out.” She smiled, took out her wand, confidently recited a spell he’d never heard, and the wind stopped. Once again, Liam was struck by how much wand magic they used here, and how little he knew of it.

               “ Very neat.” He said, genuinely impressed. “ Well, I can leave. I’m assuming you came up here to be left alone.” He prepared to get up to leave, becoming slightly nervous that Marietta’s friends, most particularly Cho, would be up to join her.

               “ Maybe I’d rather hear why you’re sulking.” She said slyly.

               “ Ha, it’s not very interesting.”

               She closed her book. “ Try me.” Her expression was earnest, and for a second Liam was nearly tempted to lay it all out to a stranger.

               “ Um… Homesick, that’s all.” Not entirely a lie.

               “ Right.” She looked out at the grounds thoughtfully. “ I get that too. A lot actually. It’s great here, but… A little over stimulating sometimes.”

               “ Especially this year, I guess. With the tournament.” He said, hoping that mentioning the tournament would steer them clear of his romantic turmoil.

               “ Merlin no, every year. Last year there was a mass murderer trying to break in. Before that a dirty great snake was petrifying all the muggle borns and tried to kill a first year, and before that… well, they didn’t really explain anything but the rumours are that one of our Professors tried to steal some magical artefact to resurrect you-know-who.”

               “ Circe, why do anyone’s parents let their kids return here?” He’d heard some of these stories from other students, but it was still shocking.

               She simply shrugged. “ Magic is dangerous, no matter where you are.”

               “ I guess you’re right.” Certainly many dangerous things happened in the Tilson woods, even if they were a different type of threatening.

               “ Apart from homesick, you enjoying the tournament?” She said, trying to turn more cheerful.

               “ Uh huh.”

               “ That was hesitant.” She remarked, and she was right.

               “ It’s a little horrifying, watching what they have to go through,” he admitted.

               “ Must be when you’re close with them. I don’t really know Cedric or Harry but watching Cho stress about them is enough to put me right on edge with her.”

               “ Does she know them both?” He didn’t really want to talk about Cho…

               “ They all play Quidditch. Her and Cedric are, well, you know, since you’re kinda friends with him aren’t you?”

               Liam felt himself blush slightly, but looked out over the landscape and hoped she didn’t notice. “ Sort of.”

               “ I mean Cedric’s a sixth year, obviously a champion… But poor Harry. Just a fourth year. Whoever put his name in the Goblet must be out to get him.”

               “ So you don’t believe he did it?”

               “ Cho doesn’t, who actually knows him. And I _know_ everyone thinks Harry is this big attention seeking hero, but I don’t know, look at him! He’s so awkward and gawky, I can’t imagine he actually _enjoys_ constantly being the center of wizarding world gossip. It’s not logical.” She shook her head, as if she couldn’t believe how anyone could possibly come to another conclusion about the boy who lived.

               “ I think Mira would agree with you.”

               “ She would, huh? By the way, do you know what the bloody hell she did to get past that dragon? I’ve spent hours researching and trying to mull it out, but I’m nowhere nearer than I was weeks ago!” She was a very quick talker, Liam was learning, highly excitable.

               “ She’s very secretive.” Liam didn’t feel like the whole school needed to know Mira was just a clueless as they were.

               “ I’d so like to ask her about it. But she’s so intimidating!”

               “ You don’t just think she’s a giant freak?” Liam joked, remembering the looks Mira got the entire week after the first task. Or still was getting…

               Marietta’s mouth hung open in shock. She closed it, grinned. “ Ravenclaw attracts a lot of strange types, honestly, I never thought of it that way.”

               “ You might be the minority.”

               She laughed, “ I’m used to it.”

               “ If you don’t mind me saying, you’re awfully talkative for someone who comes to study alone in a tower.”

               “ I’m sorry, do you mind? I can be quiet.” She immediately seemed to shrink.

               “ No, no! I was just wondering,” he tried to amend. “ I’m not bothered.”

               She smiled shyly at him. “ Library’s too crowded with giggling girls following Krum around. I have no problem with light conversation, but I get distracted easily.”

               “ I’m sorry, I’m distracting you.”

               “ There’s a big difference between a distraction that’s giving _you_ the attention, and not just being loud in your general vicinity.” She looked him in the eye, but quickly looked away, tucking a strand of flyaway hair behind her ear.

               “ I guess you’re right.”

               “ Are you going to the Yule Ball?” She asked in a quick breath, suddenly, perking up and hair falling in her face again.

               “ Think I pretty much have to.” Liam raised an eyebrow, noticing her cheeks were quickly flushing.

               “ Oh um… well, since you’re friends with Cedric, and I’m friends with Cho… And they’re like… going together, maybe it would be cool, or maybe, I don’t know, if we… Sorry, you don’t even know me! You probably have a date already, you’re going with Mira right?” She spluttered out nervously.

               Astonished, “ Uh, no. No I’m not going with Mira.”

               “ Oh! I just thought, you two seem so close.” She gave a nervous laugh, stared at her lap and fidgeted with her hands.

               “ Not like that…” Liam didn’t know how to respond, Marietta was clearly becoming more agitated and embarrassed by the second.

               “ Well um… if you’re not going with anyone else, I just thought I would ask if you maybe wanted to go with me.” Her bright red cheeks were peeking out from behind a curtain of hair.

               “ Um…” Liam hesitated. He knew he was drawing out a very painful and vulnerable experience for Marietta but he truly did not know how to react.

               “ Sorry, I never should have asked. You should go with like, Fleur Delacour…” She rambled on quickly.

               “ No, I don’t think so.” Liam frowned. “ Uh, Marietta…” She was practically shrivelling up where she sat, it was so awful, and he wasn’t going with anyone else, and there was no chance he could go with who he wanted so… “ I will, go with you, um, sure.” Very awkwardly handled.

               She tucked the hair behind her ear. “ That’s great! Um, we can all go together! You and I and Cedric and Cho!” She beamed as Liam’s stomach sank.

_Fucking Circe._

 

* * *

 

               Mira’s attempts to translate the ancient sea witch language of the text were pitiful. She could hardly make out the English scrawl in the margins. She knew it would be much more time efficient if she asked Onyx for help but felt that Onyx had already done enough lending her the text at all.

               She made out, more or less, the ingredients list. The instructions for brewing were less clear, and the actual _use_ of the potion, still a mystery. But _One of the Sea_ had to mean being _one_ with the _sea_ , didn’t it? It probably meant you turned into a fish, a transfiguration aid, temporary animagous? Was that what she needed?

               She decided to visit the Hogwarts library in search for a translation text that could help her out, or better yet, to find Liam. Their friendship was smoother now, and Mira was trying to put in actual effort to keep it that way. She hadn’t seen him since this morning, and decided he was exactly the person to take her mind off impending death by drowning.

               She ended up running into him just as he was leaving the castle. He looked paler and more distant than usual. Was it the weather or?

               “ Why do you look like that?” Mira demanded.

               “ What?” He asked, trying to act normal.

               “ Like a preoccupied corpse.”

               “ Um… just a miserable day.”

               “ What were you sulking about?”

               “ Soren.” Liam false pouted.

               “ Are you sure?” She was highly sceptical of Liam having thought much of Soren in the past few weeks, at least not in the sense of actually missing him.

               He quickly glanced around to make sure no one was listening nearby. “ I’m going to the dance with a girl.” He admitted sheepishly.

               “ That’s not funny.” Mira said, “ come on, I need to grab a book from the library.”

               “ I’m not being funny.” He said, not allowing her to guide him.

               She turned around and regarded him. He did seem more sober about this joke than he usually would. “ I um… I don’t know how to react. Are you serious? Really serious? Who is it? If you wanted to go with someone so bad why don’t you just go with me?”

               “ I didn’t even _think_ of that. I should have said that.” Liam hissed, more to himself.

               “ Oh dear Circe, you are being serious.” She couldn’t tell if she wanted to laugh or not. He simply nodded in return.

               “ Marietta.” He said, looking at the ground. “ Great person, really nice.”

               “ Oh no.”

               “ Best friends with Cho Chang.”

               “ Oh fuck.”

               “ She wants to go on a double date to the dance. Me, her, Cho and Cedric.” He lifted his eyes to Mira, the rain drops sliding across his face and dripping down his chin.

               “ You can’t do this.” Mira shook her head. “ Why did you agree to this?”

               He limply shook his head, eyes gazing at the ground in a state of disbelief. They stood in the rain unmoving until they were both soaked through.

 

* * *

 

               “ You’re seriously taking a girl to the dance?” Asked Mira out of her continual disbelief. She’d been repeating the question spontaneously throughout the entire afternoon, throughout dinner, and again now, sitting at her desk, writing out a history of North Asian Medicinal Tinctures and Their Changing Uses essay for Moll.

               “ Well… yeah. I’m a little bit bisexual, you know.” Liam absentmindedly joked, trying to ignore the fact that he was in as much disbelief as Mira, despite having explained to her exactly how it happened several times over. He was currently attempting to read a very old and long winded book on the ancient Goblin ruins in Western Peru and the importance of the imagery of the jabiru stork versus the phoenix, but the incessant interruptions made it difficult.

               “ Really?” She looked over her shoulder at him.

               They made brief eye contact, “ um, maybe?” He laughs, “ guess I’ll find out?”

               “ You shouldn’t… Have to pretend.” She turned away as she said it, not wanting him to see that she was genuinely concerned for him.

               “ I’m not. It’s just a stupid dance. I should be going with you…”

               She snorts, “ Yes. Or nobody, who cares? What’s with this weird expectation to have a date?”

               “ Mira… Sorry if this is too much…” Having had enough of explaining himself for one day, he decided to deflect to something he wanted to clarify for a long time, “ I know I’ve teased you about having a crush on Onyx… but, do you actually, know, you know?”

               “ Do I know you know?” She said dryly, wilfully misunderstanding.

               “ If you’re…” He hesitated, knowing she’d pick up.

               “ A huge dyke.” She finishes.

               “ Um… I wouldn’t have put it that way, but yes.”

               “ I just like who I like. Don’t see why I have to declare it to anybody.” She was looking fixedly at her paper and did not see Liam soft smile.

               Again he hesitated before asking his next question. “ Were you... And Kel, were you?” He was barely whispering but she caught every word. Her body stiffened.

               “ No.” She said firmly.

               “ Sorry, I… Was just wondering what happened.” He didn’t want to press, for fear that she would push him, or more like throw him, away. “ Just… You know you can talk to me? You know I won’t judge you?”

               Mira said nothing, went back to writing her essay. He went back to his work when he realized she was purposefully ignoring him.

               But after a moment she said, very quietly, “ She didn’t like me.”

               He didn’t dare say anything.

               “ I liked her. And then the dreaming started… And she was right beside me, and I’d wake up to her screaming about the same dream I’d just had. And I didn’t know it was me… but, I kinda did know it was me. I didn’t tell her.”

               She was staring at the tent wall, immobile upright posture. There was a heavy moment of silence, and Liam didn’t know if saying something would disturb the flow of sharing or encourage it.

               “ It wasn’t just nightmares.” She said softly, her posture unwinding. “ You know, because I gave them to you. To everyone. But it was the worst, the most intense for…” She drifted off.

               “ Mira, it wasn’t your fault.” Liam said softly, trying to be reassuring.

               She laughed harshly. “ Fault doesn’t matter. Intention doesn’t make it less traumatizing.”

               They were silent again, a moment passed.

               “ You can’t--”

               “ I can show you.” Mira interrupted. She turned to look at him, an almost crazed look of sadness in her eye.

               “ What?” He didn’t know what she meant but he felt suddenly very nervous.

               “ I’ve been dreaming again, Liam.” She said, staring intently at him. “ I can show you what I did to Kel and then you’ll know why it’ll never be okay.”

               “ I thought you couldn’t anymore? The planetary positioning or something with the earth magnetic field mumbo jumbo I don’t understand interfering with the dreaming world…”

               “ It’s not the same as back home, but I think I can share a memory.”

               “ Is that… Is it safe?”

               Mira grinned eerily, “ I don’t know.”

               He felt like his brain stop a moment, her grin faded and she shook her head, turned around back to her essay.

               “ I’ll do it.” He suddenly blurted. Fuck if it’s safe or not, Mira was finally opening up.

               She looked at him again, discerning if he was being genuine or not. Apparently seeing that he was she nodded slightly, turned her chair around and scooted it closer to the bed. He sat up, bringing himself to perch at the edge. She took his hands in her own and they both closed their eyes. She began an odd humming sound.

               It was a few moments of nothingness, an increasing awareness of his uncomfortable seating position and the forest sounds coming from outside before his mind, his senses, emptied. Everything was a fuzzy blank, and then slowly, slowly, images began seeping into his mind.

               Being inside someone’s memories without their full scope of experience and context is akin to experiencing chaos. Or for a moment, it is, until things start to settle. It wasn’t anything like he expected. He didn’t witness any scenario, or any action at all, but rather felt a sequence of emotions and thoughts, that soon organized themselves into a linear fashion and catalyzed a sharp line of reactionary emotions and thoughts. 

               He _understood_ more than saw Kel thrashing in nightmare, Mira doing the same. He understood, through Mira, Kel dreaming Mira’s dreams. He understood what it was to watch Mira’s dreams, Mira’s thoughts, leak out of her own mind, into everything around her, seep into the emotions of others. He understood the unintended influence of containing, however briefly, someone else’s subconscious. He understood Kel losing her own sense of emotional understanding, when it intermingled so intensely with Mira’s own, and how this naturally led to confused feelings between the two, not knowing where your own self ends or begins. How a strange and unnatural intimacy bridged between them, without either of them knowing what it was. How when Mira realized it was her own dreaming mind casting these illusions, the bridge became a fallacy and they both tumbled into the abyss below it. How Mira’s wandering mind had violated the individuality of those closest to her.

               Mira’s memory transference to Liam snapped unexpectedly and he jolted out of it. Becoming aware of his own body, thoughts, emotions, was disorienting and briefly terrifying. His heart raced and he breathed heavily without knowing who he was for several seconds, before he came back to himself. Mira remained sitting upright, legs crossed, tears streaming down her face.

               Neither of them said anything.

               Mira raised her hands to her face, brushing the tears away and took in a ragged breath. His heart was pounding loudly, he felt strangely sick to be back in his own body again.

“ I shouldn’t have done that.” Mira choked, “ fucking Circe. I shouldn’t have done that.”

               “ That was… intense. I mean… Circe.” He was still filtering through the emotions, coming back to himself. For a moment he had _been_ Mira, and the sudden snap, the lack of conclusion, had felt like a robbery. More himself now, he could place some sense on it. “ Can you…I’m just…” He placed a hand on his heart, slumped back on the bed. “ I need a second.”

               “ Fuck Liam, I’m sorry. I basically just did to you what I did to...” Her voice cracked, and her hands were trembling. She was squeezing her eyes shut and clearly trying hard to hold something back.

               “ It’s okay Mira, I agreed, remember?” He breathed. “ I’m not eager to do it again, but I’m fine.” He was overcompensating to make her feel better, and they both knew it. She laughed, but clearly out of discomfort, then took a shaky breath and nodded. He took her hand again and squeezed it, half to comfort her but half to confirm that they had two separate bodies. He couldn’t tell if the sickness he felt in his own body was a residual feeling of Mira’s or his own.

               Neither of them knew how long it was they sat like that, only breathing and holding hands. When Liam recovered himself he realized that Mira was softly crying.

               “ Hey, hey, it’s alright.” He tried to say soothingly, and he meant it, feeling much more collected now.

               “ No it’s not.” She sighed.

               “ I’m fine now, really. It was a bad trip, but it’s over and I get why you feel so fucked up now.”  He joked but she barely smiled. “ I’m glad… I’m glad I know.”

               She looked at him then, not crying but eyes still red. “ Thank you,” it was barely audible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for long wait and also how unedited this is whoooooooops


	17. Missteps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> really wanted to write an extra long chapter but had to split them in two because I just can't focus on so much at once. play a little with the timeline of things here, but I'll try to explain it as reasonably as possible.

Cedric was experiencing anxiety, not for the first time since being elected champion. But now it was nothing so much to do with winning a challenge but with having to dance. Well no… That wasn’t exactly it. He’d had to dance at stuffy wizard functions before, his father always consistent in shoving him into the arms of the daughter of some well-respected person.

Professor Sprout had informed him, quietly taken him aside during herbology class – it was clear in her face that she felt how potentially awkward and painful the news would be - and whispered the latest development in his champion duties. Dancing. With Cho. In front of the whole school. He hadn’t thought much of it then, just smiled it off and nodded, his typical response when he knew there was no way out of something.

He didn’t think much of it when he mentioned it to Cho when they’d sneaked off to a quiet part of the castle just to talk either.

“ In front of the whole school?” She’d asked, eyes anxious.

He’d smiled softly at her, “ hey, it’s just dancing. Not like there will be any dragons present.”

She near laughed, “ No, but everyone…”

“ What is it?” He asked, tucking a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear.

She blushed, “ everyone will see us. Everyone will know we’re um…” Her ears went pink.

“ Do you not want to be seen with me?” He teased.

“ No! It’s not that. It’s just… rather public.” She said thoughtfully.

“ It’ll be over in minutes.” He reassured her.

“ I suppose so.” Cho nodded thoughtfully.

“ Besides, you’re Ravenclaw seeker, used to a little attention, aren’t you?”

She shoved him playfully. “ Usually because _I_ did something spectacular, not because I’m on someone spectacular’s arm.”

“ I can ask someone else if you really hate it.”

She frowned, “ I don’t think so, Cedric.”

“ I don’t _want--_ ”

“ I’m not accusing you of wanting to take anyone else.” She interrupted, “ but Marietta is all excited because she’s going with Liam, your friend from Tilson, and wants us all to be there together.”

“ Oh nice.” It took Cedric a few blank faced seconds to really understand what she had said. “ Wait, what? They know each other?” He shocked himself with how many questions were rising.

“ Yeah, I guess they ran into each other studying or something.” She simply shrugged, as if this was only trifling gossip and not the unexpected _strange_ news it was to Cedric.

“ Did he ask her? Does she like him? Are they like, _together_?”

Cho laughed at his inquisitiveness, “ My! Are you so shocked? They’re both attractive.”

“ Well, obviously, but just because a bloke is handsome doesn’t mean--” Cedric started, wanting desperately to drop the subject but for some reason being unable. He’d run into Liam yesterday, why hadn’t he mentioned anything?

“ I didn’t think this would bother you so much! She asked him, I don’t think they’re together… yet.” And Cho smiled mischievously.

“ I don’t know…” Cedric started, wanting to say Liam wouldn’t go for someone like Marietta – not that there was anything wrong with her, a perfectly lovely person, but for Liam? – when he realized that he didn’t know what Liam _would_ go for.

“ Do you not like that we’re all going together?” Cho asked, sensing something was up with him.

“ No, no! I’m just curious. Never imagined it, is all.” He resolved that maybe he should spend more time with Liam. To see if it was a good match, for Marietta’s sake, of course.

“ I think it will be fun. Aside from the dancing  while everyone watches, I’d like to get to know this Liam. Since you like him so much he must be interesting.”

Cedric let out a slight sigh, “ yes, he’s something.”

Since finding out about the impending double date to the dance something hadn’t been sitting right with Cedric. The nearer the day came, the worse it got. _But seriously_ , he thought, _Marietta and Liam? Does no one else sense how odd of a match that is?_ And nobody did, because literally no one else was thinking about it as much as Cedric was.

 

* * *

 

“ Translation seems to be going well.” Onyx’s voice rang through Mira’s dream like a sharp bell. Why was she speaking about translations when Mira was currently surfing inside a giant bowl of white bean  and tomato soup? She blinked.

She’d fallen asleep at the workbench in the green house, spilled over the sea magic book and a bundle of ancient potion translation books to indulge in ordinary dreaming. Since her overwhelming venture to share memories with Liam, she hadn’t reattempted entering the dream state. It was beginning to feel like a nasty, uncontrollable place again, not the calm order the bog witch had instilled in her.

She sat up, head rushing, and quickly wiped the drool off of her cheek. She attempted to say “it’s going well” but it came out more like “ hugghh gonn veh.”

“ Right.” Onyx responded, setting down the bag of enchanted fertilizer, she peered over Mira’s shoulder. “ That’s supposed to say simmer for twenty three days, not twenty five, and then add angel’s root, not _angles._ ”

Mira blushed at her spelling mistake. “ Well yes… Um, twenty three… that will save me some time then.”

“ Complicated brew to settle on.” Onyx noted, flipping the page over and examining the entire recipe.

“ It seemed the most appropriate.” Mira responded, although it was a lie, it actually just seemed the most easily translatable, which had turned out to be false. They were all equally coded in ancient strangeness.

“ Good for you though, we’re growing most of this stuff. You’ll have to ask special permission for the dracsilus eel testicles though.”

Mira frowned at the thought. Her frown deepened when her slowly waking mind remembered something else. _The Ball. Necessary to take a date._ Moll had informed her that morning, and the only viable option, that being Liam, was taken.

In a moment of still-fogged-up-from-sleep-non-thinking Mira asked, “ Onyx, do you want to go to the ball with me?”

Onyx, who had been bent over Mira’s shoulder inspecting the text, hair tickling against her arm, stood up straight. Mira didn’t dare turn around, suddenly very awake and wondering what the _hell_ was wrong with her to ask such a thing.

“ I mean… I just found out I _have_ to take someone, I know we’d both rather go alone.” She added sheepishly, trying not to sound rude but maybe not entirely succeeding.

Onyx snorted, “ You’re right. Why don’t you take Liam?”

“ Well, he’s already got a date.” Mira added, knowing that made her seem even more rude, as if Onyx was her desperate second choice.

She could feel Onyx shrugging behind her, “ ask Rina or Nora.”

Mira turned, “ there is _no way_ Nora would ever dance with me in front of everyone.”

Onyx smirked, “ and there is _no way_ I’m going to either.”

Mira was deeply embarrassed, at a loss for words.

“ I’ll be happy to dance in your near vicinity after the formalities have ceased.” Onyx added, face unreadable except for a faint hint of amusement. “ I’m sure many people would jump at the chance to take a champion to the ball.”

Mira snorted, looking at the ground, “ the clearly mistakenly chosen champion.”

“ Shush shush, we all know that title goes to poor Harry.” Onyx had a gleam in her eye. “ It’s nothing against you, Mira. These types of engagements aren’t to my taste.”

“ Lucky you get to avoid it.” Mira said sulkily, to which Onyx just laughed.

 

* * *

 

Moll hadn’t _forgotten_ to ask Karkaroff about teaching a history of dark arts lesson to her students, she’d simply been distracted. Hogwarts was a busy place! She couldn’t be blamed if Madame Pomfrey had a particularly interesting antidote for hairy toe fungus and that the witch became her favourite type of huffy when pestered for explanations. It was certainly not Moll’s fault that the Bloody Baron could fill in some historical plot holes her texts had skipped over, and of course, he was exaggerating, of course she didn’t believe any of his boasts, but how could she pass up the chance to study ghost psychology?

When she did find herself near the man, one nippy December day, both on their way up to the castle for dinner, it was, finally, the time to ask him.

“ Professor Karkaroff, I wonder if I might tempt you into some sort of arrangement…” She improvised.

“ Huh? Vhat type of arrangement?” He was distracted, keeping a close eye on his students. Particularly that famous one, what’s his name, Grain? Morsel? Dust?

“ Well you see, I’m really quite far from my home lands. I’m sure you have experienced the stress of keeping things in order at your own school while you’re here… Well, imagine that, but think, the distance is so much more for me!”

“ Did you not leave someone competent in your place?” He sneered.

“ Of course I did! But you know, I worry about the students. It’s a shame not to see their progress, that’s why we entered this profession isn’t it?” She adapted to his disdainful manner in seconds, highly accustomed to communicating with pretentious highborn oafs.

“ Uh… Well, yes, of course.” He muttered, trapped in her manipulation with no way out that didn’t make him look like a careless and undeserving educator.

“ It takes time, for me to communicate back home. Would you mind… When classes should resume, accepting some additional students in a class? Only once or twice!”

“ I don’t know about zat!” He cried, clearly horrified at the idea of having her unruly, muggle-dressed, students mingle with his own.

“ I really think they could benefit from someone of your expertise. I see your students, Karkaroff. They are so unlike those from other schools!” She was not lying. The Durmstrang students stood out, anyone could see it, in their severe manner, military-esque rule following. She did not want her students to be anything like them, but she figured being around different types of conditioning would be enlightening.

“ Hhmm, very well. If it’s only vonce or twice, zey could use it.” He sneered again. Moll simply beamed, thanked him, and hurried away before he had a chance to realize he was getting absolutely nothing out of his bargain but more work.

 

* * *

 

Mira’s sulking was impossible not to notice. She knew it, she knew everyone around her knew it, and she wished deeply that she could hide her despair, but it was too strong, too much. She still didn’t have a date and the ball was _tomorrow._

“ Just make a statement and go alone.” Chel huffed, clearly annoyed by Mira’s heavy emotional aura. They were all sitting around fire “studying” in the dim light. There was a light dusting of snow falling through the trees, but the clearing remained warm and dry.

“ Under normal circumstances I would do just that, but I think I have enough attention without creating some big political scene.” Mira mumbled. She did feel weak about not standing up for herself. This entire situation was making her insides squirm.

“ Fake sick.” Rina replied.

“ They won’t let her get away with that.” Nora, the only one actually studying, said without looking up from her book.

“ No…” Rina added, but there was a mischievous glint in her eye, “ but if you were actually to become mysteriously ill…”

“ Have you got something for that?” Liam asked, genuinely interested.

“ I haven’t… But I might know someone who does.” Her smile grew even broader. Everyone waited for her to continue, Nora even looked up from her book. “ You remember those redheaded twins that tried to take an aging potion to get past the age barrier to enter the goblet of fire?”

Various yeses and head nodding in response.

“ Well… I may have overheard a certain discussion between the two when they didn’t know I was there.”

“ When have you ever been quiet enough for someone not to realize you were there?” Chel retorted.

“ I have my moments!” Rina replied, unperturbed by the jab, “ anyhow, I _think_ they’ve developed some sort of candy that makes your nose bleed or puke or something, from the sounds of it.”

“ So… You overheard some people you don’t know talking about some mysterious magic, after witnessing how faulty their previous attempts at tricking authority are, and you think it’s an excellent idea to send Mira to them for help?” Chel asked again, eyebrow raised.

“ I’m just trying to help! Can’t dance at a ball if you’re bleeding all over your partner.” She winked, clearly pleased that she’d come up with a plan but also not believing for a second Mira would go for it.

“ Why don’t I just punch her in the face?” Chel offered sarcastically. Although on second thought, maybe not so sarcastically…

“ It sounds dangerous.” Nora added, going back to her book.

“ If…” Everyone turned to look at Mira, “ If I were to, attempt this… How would I even approach them?”

“ I’ll introduce you!” Rina beamed.

“ You just said you overheard this discussion, you don’t even know them.” Liam added, it was clear he also didn’t like this idea.

“ No, but I’d _like_ to know them.” As if that was a good enough answer.


	18. Bleed or Dance (part one)

It was a symbol of Mira’s ever growing discomfort that she allowed Rina to lead her to the Weasley twins. Usually she went home for the holidays, had a mediocre time split between her mother’s family and her father’s, but at least she got to see Anya. Watching her little sister marvel at whatever small magical but harmless wizard token she’d give her as a gift was one of the only tolerable parts of the season, between her grandmother’s unseasoned cooking and her father’s unintentionally shame inducing comments( _do you have a boyfriend yet?_ ). This year all she was able to do was send home letters. She’d enclosed a book of pressings of her favourite flowers for his sister, hoping that the shimmery luminesce that lingered in the petals would be enough to make up for her absence, but knowing full well that it wasn’t. 

Letting Anya down, along with being the silently scrutinized champion of a tournament she believed in increasingly less, paired with not having a date to a traditional old dance (and not knowing the steps) had her feeling utterly useless, helpless, mortified.

So she let Rina lead her out of the great hall to follow red headed twins neither of them had never met in the hopes of cornering them alone somewhere. Rina was being extra ridiculous about it, consistently holding her finger to her lips as if Mira needed to be reminded to hush, and near walking on tip toes, despite the fact that it was broad daylight and there were dozens of other students around.

They followed them down several corridors, out into a snowy courtyard, towards a gnarly old tree.

“ Rina, the longer we follow them the weirder it gets.” Mira pointed out, feeling rather uncomfortable with what was surely considered stalking at this point.

“ We have to wait until we’ve got them entirely alone!” She whispered harshly back.

Responding in her regular voice, “ there’s no one around!”

Rina frowned, “ you don’t know anything about secret magical dealings, _do you?_ ” She crossed her arms.

“ And you do?” Mira responded dryly. Rina narrowed her eyes at her while Mira rolled her own. “ Can you just ask them?”

“ You don’t want to do this my way, so do it yourself!” She defiantly countered, fists balled comically by her sides.

“ _Rina._ ” Mira hissed. In honesty she felt too awkward to go up and ask strangers about magical nosebleeds but didn’t want Rina to know that.

“ Fine.” Rina huffed. “ Hey! Um, yeah… hello!” Rina shouted after them, raising a hand and fluttering it a few times in greeting. Ok… Maybe Mira didn’t need Rina to make this less awkward.

The twins, formerly in a hushed conversation, stopped walking and turned, both raising an eyebrow.

“ Yes?” They both responded at the same time.

Rina took a few hesitant steps towards them, Mira lingering slightly behind her.

“ Um, hi!” Rina repeated. “ How are you?” _Dear god_ , thought Mira, _this is going terribly._

“ Alright.” One of the twins answers, the other one shrugging, both sceptical.

“ We were wondering… Um, if… yeah, someone told us…” Mira had never seen Rina handle a social situation so poorly before.

Realizing nothing would come of it, and only because she had so much to lose, she decided to get to the point.

Interrupting a rambling introduction Mira said bluntly, “ Rina here heard that you’re developing some sort of magical nosebleed candy or vomit inducing sweet?”

Rina looked at her incredulously, the twins exchanged glances.

“ Who told you that?” One of them asked. Rina blushed.

“ People talk.” Mira said blankly.

“ Yeah? And why would a champion be interested?” The other one asked.

“ Do you or don’t you?” Mira blurted, feeling her own face heat up. She hated that everyone knew who she was, and she didn’t know them.

“ Never heard of it.” They both said at the same time before turning to walk away.

“ Yes you have!” Rina suddenly yelled, causing them to pause. “ Look, I heard you talking about it. We aren’t here to rat you out, please. Mira just really doesn’t want to go to the ball alone.”

“ _Rina.”_ Mira hissed again, but the twins turned around, suddenly interested.

“ Couldn’t find a date?” One of them asked, both eyeing her up and looking amused. Now she was _really_ blushing.

“ Please! She could clearly go with anyone. She just doesn’t want to, so if you would kindly inform us if you can help her get out of it, otherwise we’ll be on our merry way and you can go on whispering about potions and spells you haven’t actually invented…” Rina said confidently and Mira felt herself fill with an appreciation for her.

The twins exchanged a glance again, silently determining something before saying in unison, “ alright, we’ll help.”

“ But we must warn you,” one of them began, “ that this is still highly experimental.” The other one finished.

 

* * *

 

Mira stared at the purple nosebleed nougat going sticky in her sweaty palm.

“ Ready?” Liam asked. She tucked the candy in her pocket, silent prayed it would work and turned around.

Liam was wearing particularly eccentric dress robes, indiscernible in colour as it seemed to shift between the entire spectrum, with shimmering patterns of moons and stars that slipped through the sea of fabric that swayed with his movements. The entire while he was getting dressed he had continuously snickered at himself, clearly amused with his decision.

“ You look positively wizardly.” Mira stated, smirking at him.

“ And you look like someone about to fake sick out of dancing.” He said looking over her simple loose fitted black dress and sloppily pinned up hair. If she were at a proper muggle club, she would have looked excellent, but to stuffy old wizards, she certainly would not.

They joined the rest of the Tilson students, and began the trek up the castle, led by Moll. Everyone looked lovely, noted Mira, but she was really only looking at Onyx, who was wearing a long charcoal coloured dress that shimmered silver and clung to her in ways that Mira normally wouldn’t let herself imagine.

All her classmates knew her plan, and their buzz of excitement was partially due to the anticipation of whether the Weasley’s trick would work or not.

Rina sidled up beside her, “ did you take it yet?” She whispered.

“ Waiting until we’re in. Don’t want there to be time to fix it before.” Mira whispered back, but she wasn’t sure. If it didn’t work, she wouldn’t have time to think of another plan. She swallowed back the anxiety. _It would work._

The school was decorated extensively. A fairy garden waited for them outside, charmingly charmed with snow that didn’t freeze you and little dizzying lights and plenty of spots to hide and sip the fire whiskey students would no doubt smuggle in. Mira felt the smallest twinge of regret to not be able to enjoy it. If she wasn’t a stupid fucking champion in a meaningless competition to see who dies first, maybe she could have. She groaned internally. It was useless to think like that now.

As they entered the busy front hall, Mira silently slipped the nougat into her mouth. It tasted strangely tangy, as she chewed it slowly. The twins had been very clear that they _hadn’t_ developed a cure yet, she would have to either wait out the bleeding, which they assured her could last indefinitely, or go to the hospital wing.

They stood as a group in the entrance way, with Moll beaming and bouncing on her heels and Rina trying to make herself taller to get a good look at the other students. Shortly after being pushed further into the bustling crowd by the entrance of the Beauxbaton students - Nora was whisked away by one of them and Chel started arguing with Rina about finding their dates - McGonagall parted the crowd to greet them.

“ Matron Moll, I trust your students are prepared to enjoy the festivities?” She questioned, peering down at her over her spectacles.

“ Oh course Minerva! Very well prepared, I think.” Moll winked, both of them giving a side eye to Liam’s robes.

“ Indeed. Ms. Zellick and her partner will follow me, along with the other champions.” McGonagall added, inspecting Mira now.

Mira grimaced, touched her nose, which was _not_ bleeding, and followed her with one dismayed glance back at Liam.

McGonagall led her into a tiny room that was attached to the great hall, Cedric and Cho, Harry and who was likely his date, already waiting. Fleur and her date were gracefully sweeping into the room when McGonagall seemed to notice something was wrong.

“ Ms. Zellick, where is your date?” She asked in her usual piercing voice.

“ Um…” Mira started, Cedric and Harry both observing her with interest. McGonagall looked down at her, face unreadable, when Mira felt a singular drop of blood leave her nose and land on her own shoe.

Instinctively, her hand flew to her face.

“ Are you alright, Ms. Zellick?”

Mira didn’t answer. Cedric had taken a half step towards her, clearly worried. Her natural reaction was to smile it off, but of course she couldn’t do that if she wanted to keep up the charade.

She felt another drop of blood slide down her face, and then another… Soon it was an entire stream, dripping down her chin, down her collar bone and seeping into the fabric of her dress.

“ She has to go to the hospital wing!” Piped up Cho, looking startled at the same time as Fleur cried, “ my goodness Meera!”

“ What has caused this?” McGonagall asked, face full of stern concern.

Mira just shrugged, not wanting to open her mouth because _there was so much blood._ Way more than she had anticipated… although both her hands were clutching her face the blood was pouring through her fingers.

“ Professor Moody!” Called McGonagall to Mad Eye, who was just outside the door scaring off some third years that were trying to sneak into the dance.

“ Yes?” He asked gruffly, limping to the door.

“ Would you mind escorting Ms. Zellick to the hospital wing? I’m afraid unless Madame Pomfrey discovers an immediate cure she may not be able to join in the champions’ dance.” McGonagall said wistfully, placing a hand on Mira’s shoulder and thrusting her towards him.

His blue eye swivelling chaotically in his head but his human one resting on Mira, Moody simply nodded, replacing McGonagall’s hand with his own gnarled one and immediately steering her away.

Unfortunately the only way to the hospital wing required weaving through the entire crowd of assembled students. She felt her knees go a little wobbly and she wasn’t sure if it was the loss of blood, becoming rather extensive for a nosebleed at this point, the gawking crowd, or the fact that Mad Eye Moody, someone she’d been successful in avoiding her entire time here, was now touching her bare shoulder.

Many students upon noticing her dripping scarlet literally jumped out of the way, some squealing “ it didn’t get on me, did it?” to their dates or indiscreetly asking each other “ merlin, what’s wrong with her?”

“ Move Weasley!” Yelled Moody when someone in ghastly printed  dress robes unwittingly stumbled into their path. Mira’s head snapped up, wondering if it was Fred or George, but it was a younger, also red headed, boy. A younger brother? His face turned green at the sight of Mira’s blood covered form – or maybe at being addressed directly by Moody – as he scampered out of the way, towards a horrified girl who looked almost exactly like Harry’s date (whether she was horrified by Mira’s blood or the young Weasley’s outfit was hard to tell).

Mira thought she probably looked a lot like Carrie, not that any of these wizards would get the movie reference. Just as she was leaving the foyer the doors to the great hall swept open and the chattering students began disappearing in twos, Mira safely uninvolved.

 

* * *

 

Liam was extremely pleased with his ridiculous getup, weird even by old wizard standards. He did not, as Mira had innocently asked, do it to make Marietta regret her choice of taking him. If she did happen to feel that way, that only meant she was uncomfortable with Liam’s natural wacky self, and it was better they find that out as soon as possible.

Standing in the flooded great hall now, he was practically bouncing on his heels. So maybe _some_ of that bounce was due to nerves sitting heavy in his stomach at having a girl for a date, and being on a double date with the boy he actually liked but was trying very hard not to, but he was trying to make himself believe it was because he _always_ loved a good party! Everyone was in an excited rush, fluttering about in their fancy attire and the night seemed to promise something spectacular. Liam would be damned if he spoiled it for everyone.

Marietta spotted him first. She wore dark purple, curls tied up elaborately on her head, and smiled at him even after eyeing his robes.

“ Interesting attire.” She laughed, but was clearly unbothered.

“ You look lovely.” He smiled back, and it was true. Rina and Chel stopped their bickering and observed the interaction with knit brows. When Liam held his arm out for her to take, both their jaws dropped. He threw them a warning look before letting Marietta pull him into the rush to enter the hall.

“ I want to get a good view of the opening dance.” She admitted, guiding him. “ Who’s your friend Mira going with?”

“ Well… Nobody.” He admitted.

“ Nobody?” Her eyebrows raised in interest.

“ Nobody.” He shrugged, she looked puzzled but didn’t press. At a loss for what to say, Liam pretending to be extremely interested in the crowd around him. Luckily he didn’t have to do that long before a magical hush fell over the hall, the lights dimmed appropriately and the dance floor was swept clear for the honoured guests. When they announced Mira would not be part of the champions’ dance due to a minor medical emergency Liam saw Rina flash a thumbs up at a pair of grinning red headed twins. He was not entirely pleased with Mira’s decision, especially since it involved ingesting experimental magic, but he tried to be glad she had found a way out of the old tradition.

McGonagall made a signal with her hand and in walked the coupled champions, sans Mira, chipper classical music beginning to swell.

“ Oh, they look lovely!” Marietta exclaimed as soon as Cho and Cedric came into view. Cho looked bashfully pleased and Cedric focused. Liam’s heart went wonky when he looked at him, so he opted to focus on Krum and his rather young looking date.

 

* * *

 

“ Did somebody curse you girl?” Moody’s gruff voice demanded as they left the dizzying crowd.

“ Not that I’m aware of.” Mira said, blood dripping into her mouth, she began to splutter in disgust. Moody clapped a large hand on her back, causing her to stumble, her hands protectively flying forward and releasing a spray of blood on the floor.

“ Merlin, this is no ordinary nosebleed.” He said, pausing to look at all the blood, something almost like glee in his human eye. Mira fought the urge to shudder and simply nodded.

They hurried the rest of the way to the hospital wing, Moody pushing the door open dramatically but the place was dark. Mira, having never been there before, didn’t know if this was unusual.

“ Poppy?” Called Moody, walking in.

Mira stood still, clutching her nose with one hand and steadying herself by grabbing the wall with the other. She was beginning to feel like she might bleed to death.

“ Must be off duty. I’ll have to heal you myself.” Moody said, his blue eye swirling around delightedly. Mira’s already weakening heart squeezed in anxiety at the thought, she’d been so busy worrying the candy wouldn’t work at all she hadn’t considered the possible consequences of what would happen if it did.

She was spared an unknown fate by Madame Pomfrey, in an elegant blush pink gown and tinkling with golden jewellery, bursting out of the door to her private quarters. She stopped abruptly upon noticing them.

“ My! I thought I would have at least an hour of a break before things turned to blows.” She exclaimed, not to either of them, but rather the sky above.

“ Not blows, I suspect dark magic.” Mad Eye stated. Poppy looked unconvinced, but Mira couldn’t really be sure because her vision was fading out and the floor was rushing up to greet her.

 

* * *

 

Cedric’s easy confidence was a little blistered that evening, had been all week. Cho, his mates, Professor Sprout, had all noticed but kindly not said anything. Getting dressed for the ball had felt mechanical, and smiling and greeting everyone before shuffling off to the private champion waiting room had felt the same. He couldn’t puzzle it out.

He’d done this sort of thing before, always at someone else’s whim, and now he was here because of his own efforts, and it felt emptier than ever? Realizing this only made him feel worse. It wasn’t fair to Cho, who was lovely and blushing and smiling as soon as he’d offered his arm.

Seeing Mira’s nose erupt in a fountain of blood had felt like some sort of premonition of doom. _Now that’s overdramatic_ he chided himself, twirling Cho again and redoubling his focus on her as they danced.

 

* * *

 

Moll was usually one for quiet dealings, where she could really get inside a singular individual’s head, but she never passed the chance to witness a real party. The prospect of everyone getting into shenanigans and causing mischief was too good. She did not, however, expect the first person to cause a disturbance to be her own Miranda. When she saw the girl, decently bloodied up, being escorted away by the lumbering Mad Eye Moody she was well pleased and could hardly conceal it when McGonagall informed her of the unfortunate news.

_Off to an excellent start!_ She’d thought, although her spirits dampened having to endure the formality of the champions’ dance. Watching kids awkwardly struggle to do something they were clearly unhappy about was a pleasure that did not outlast half of the very long - beginning to drag frankly - song.

She was tapping her feet and looking for trouble before they’d hardly began twirling around the floor, students clamouring to get a look, when she spotted the trouble she herself wanted to cause.

Tall dark and greasy wasn’t her usual choice, but tonight, tonight it would do just fine.

After Dumbledore symbolically led Madame Maxime to the dance floor, indicating that others could do the same, Moll made her move.

“ Enjoying yourself professor?” She asked slyly.

An eyebrow was raised, “ I am required to be here.” He drawled.

_Oh good, greasy and chalk full of angst!_

“ Perhaps you would enjoy yourself more on the dance floor?” His responding facial expression was somewhere between a scowl and shock. She grinned wickedly, taking his unoffered arm, and steering them into the thick of it.

Caught in her clever mystical ways, Professor Snape could hardly turn her down.

 

* * *

 

Mira woke up laying in an unfamiliar room that was dimly lit with flickering lamps.

“ I told you, Professor, I’ve got it well under control. I can handle a simple nosebleed and much worse, thank you.” She heard someone saying sharply somewhere near.

She sat up, a spell of wooziness passing over her, forcing her head back down to the pillow.

“ She’s waking. Now off you go, wouldn’t want to miss the party!” The woman said dismissively before the sound of a closing door followed.

“ You’re alright.” The unamused voice sounded, nearer now. Mira simply groaned.

“ Drink this.” Someone was handing her a cup of foul smelling potion.

“ What is it?” Mira muttered.

“ Blood replenishing potion.”

Mira took it and swallowed in one swig, repressed the gag and felt the disgusting elixir swirl down her throat, bringing with it immediate relief.

“ It will take a moment before you’re fully recovered.” Madame Pomfrey stated, glaring down at her. She then tossed a box of holiday chocolates on the bed beside her.

“ Consolation for missing the dance?” Mira mumbled, touching her nose, a quick check to see she was indeed not bleeding anymore.

“ The sugar will help you return to normal.” She said matter-of-factly.

“ Muggle tricks.” Mira smirked to which Pomfrey just raised an eyebrow. “ Got blood on your gown.” Mira added, helpfully.

Pomfrey looked down in disgust. “ Indeed.” A quick wave of her hand and it vanished, another sharp look Mira’s way, another wave of the hand, and Mira’s dress was blood free as well.

 “ I trust you can remain quietly here on your own. Should I return and anything is out of order, or I find another cursed nosebleed…”

“ It won’t happen again.” Mira assured, successfully managing to sit upright this time.

“ I expect not. Do not leave this bed until I return.” And with a swish of a ball gown, she was gone.

 Mira smiled to herself in the dim flickering light. She’d done it. Now she had an entire hospital wing to herself _and_ a box of deluxe wizard chocolate.


	19. Bleed or Dance (part two)

“ Is that your headmistress with Professor Snape?” Marietta asked Liam, aghast.

“ I guess it is.” Liam laughed, not nearly as surprised. He didn’t know anything about this Snape, but from the looks of him he was another victim of Moll’s infectious good moods. He certainly wasn’t smiling as Moll led him through the steps of the traditional dance, but the look of irritation and discomfort he was sporting might have been a mask. Something about the way he was focusing his attention on Moll, who was speaking to him rapidly, told him he wasn’t so displeased.

Liam smiled as he watched Nora being led onto the dance floor by one of the Beauxbaton students, several other Hogwarts pairs following suit. Rina skipping out with her partner, and Chel being dragged by her own before clumsily tripping over his feet and flinching away. Liam was highly amused by the vicious look she gave him before stomping off the dance floor, her date reluctantly following.

“ He better fear for his life.” Liam said smiling and shaking his head. This is about the moment he became aware of Marietta’s suggestive inching towards the twirling mass.

_Circe, she wants to dance._

He reminded himself that he wasn’t spoiling evenings tonight, took a deep breath, and motioned towards the dance. She smiled brightly, accepting the unspoken offer.

With so many students and professors occupying the floor now it was much less noticeable to not know the steps very well. In fact, it seemed most people didn’t know them, and when he and Marietta stumbled they both laughed.

_Ok, this isn’t so bad._

He was caught up in the laughter and didn’t notice who had circled through the crowd towards them, it was through Marietta’s bright smile cast to the side that he became aware. Cedric was close enough to reach out and touch. Liam’s breath caught. He still had the focused look on his face, but this time it wasn’t aimed at Cho, it seemed like he might be inspecting how close Marietta and Liam’s bodies were. Reflexively Liam loosed his grip on her, only slightly so she wouldn’t notice. He was suddenly very aware of how much he didn’t want to be seen like this. Cedric’s eyes flashed up to his face and Liam tried to smile but it felt broken. In the ever flowing crowd the two pairs were pulled away from each other before Liam could make out any reactionary expression Cedric might have given him.

His own expression must have been less than pleased because Marietta whispered in his ear, asking if he was alright.

“ Sorry, I’m just worried about Mira.” Which wasn’t a lie, but not the reason why his face was screwed up.

“ Ah… You’re really close friends, huh?” Marietta asked.

“ Yes. We are.” Liam said thoughtlessly, gazing around the crowd. Despite not at all wanting Cedric to see him with Marietta, he still felt the tug to look for him.

The song ended and Professor Dumbledore made an announcement that Liam didn’t listen to before another classical song picked up.

“ Did you want to keep dancing?” Marietta asked, drawing his attention back.

“ Huh? Oh, do you?”

Something flashed across her face before she said, “ let’s go find Cedric and Cho.” She pulled him by the hand through the crowd, and Liam suddenly wished he had also taken a nosebleed nougat.

It didn’t take long for the pairs to find each other, as Cho had Cedric by the hand and leading him in the same search.

“ Mari!” Cho exclaimed, releasing Cedric and pulling her friend into a hug. Cedric gave Liam a small nod and he returned the gesture, anxiety wringing through him at the coldness of it.

“ You two look lovely!” Cho said to both him and Marietta, not noticing anything amiss. Maybe it was all in Liam’s dumb head.

“ You as well. Both of you, erm, dashing! Great dancing!” Liam said, very lamely, feeling his face heat up. A small grin flashed across Cedric’s face, putting him only slightly at ease. _All in my head_ , he hoped again.

“ Thank you! I was so nervous about dancing in front of everyone, but it wasn’t so awful.” Cho smiled, stealing a glance at Cedric before seeing someone else across the room. “ Mari, have you spoken to Clara and Lacy yet?”

“ Clara was helping Lacy with a hair disaster last I saw.” Marietta replied.

“ We best say hello.” Turning between Cedric and Liam, “ you two will be alright on your own for a moment, yeah?”

“ Of course.” Cedric replied. Cho smiled in response, grabbed Marietta’s hand and disappeared through the crowd. Only a moment of awkward silence stood between them, Cedric’s eyes sliding up and down Liam in a way that made him shiver uncomfortably.

“ Interesting robes.” He stated without emotion.

“ I got them at a joke shop in Calgary.” Liam responded, and to his relief Cedric laughed.

“ They suit you.”

“ Don’t they? I feel very handsome.” Liam said, holding out his arms and stepping a leg out to give Cedric the full effect of the eccentricity of the fabric. Cedric smiled again, eyes lingering on Liam’s for just long enough for him to question what it meant, before he glanced away again.

“ So um… you and Marietta?” Cedric asked, shuffling a little closer to Liam so they could speak more quietly over the music and din of the crowd.

“ Yes, um, she asked… so…” Liam looked down. He shouldn’t undercut Marietta. He didn’t want to make it seem like he was there out of obligation, but the idea of everyone thinking he was straight was such an uncomfortable one, something he hadn’t had to deal with in years. Back home, anyways.

“ So?” Cedric asked, gazing at him with the same focused expression he’d had most of the night.

“ So, here I am.” Liam said, extending his arms and flashing off his outfit superfluously again. This time Cedric didn’t laugh.

“ You didn’t want to go with her?” He pressed. Liam was beginning to wonder if Cedric suspected the truth, and was perhaps attempting to look out for Marietta.

“ I…” Should he tell him? “ She’s lovely.” He settled on. Again, not a lie, but not the clear truth. Cedric seemed to attain something from his lame response and simply nodded and gazed out at the crowd.

A long uncomfortable pause ensued.

“ I didn’t think…” Cedric began, frowning. “ I didn’t think you knew each other.”

“ We don’t.” Liam said too hastily, before he even had a chance to let himself think why Cedric was mulling it over for so long. He simply nodded slowly in response, another long pause awaiting them before their dates returned.

 

* * *

 

Did Madame Pomfrey know that she’d given Mira a box of chocolate lacquers or had it been an accident? Opening the box, which she probably should have read, she noticed several of the chocolates had already been eaten, most likely by Madame Pomfrey. Mira herself was certainly surprised, upon biting into one and getting burned by something that wasn’t quite fire whiskey, but not far off. She savoured it, despite finding the mixture of alcohol and sweetness revolting, she wanted to discover if there was anything magical laced in.

She decided to wait five minutes before venturing to sample another.

No nosebleed, no wooziness, no nausea, or any other magical symptom. She inspected the box. _Lady Liza’s Lacquers, the perfect push to party!_ (Mira probably should have read that before she opened the box and ate one, but too late now) _Suitable to take before dinner with difficult in laws, snooze worthy staff parties or any time you feel you cannot let loose. Lady Liza is not responsible for any disreputable behaviour that follows._ So Madame Pomfrey had unintentionally drugged her, Mira thought, amused. Reading further on the box, she noted that two chocolates made a full serving. Four were missing before she’d had one. Mira grinned to herself, popping another one.

Uptight Madame Pomfrey had no doubt sampled all four herself, and in her rush to get to the party, had not considered what she was giving Mira. _Disreputable behaviour indeed._ Mira found herself laughing out loud, unsure if it was her own sense of humour, blood loss, or the chocolates that were making her do it. It’s no muggle trick after all, she decided, before promptly leaving her bed and heading to the ball, box of chocolates stuffed under the arm.

She had a feeling she might know some people who might enjoy them. She grinned to herself the entire winding walk to the great hall, getting some odd looks from the passing ghost or patrolling professor, but no one stopped her.

When she heard the music, upbeat and truly _dancey,_ not the classical she was expecting, she almost broke into a skip.

Although she’d already seen much of the décor on her way in, it now seemed ten times more fantastical. She stood in the massive doorway, letting the music and sights wash over her, before it overcame her and she took a step in.

Charmed alcoholic chocolates or not, Mira was still not a crowd lover. She surveyed from the sidelines, tempted in, but unsure how to proceed. She spotted Madame Pomfrey excitedly being spun by Professor Karkaroff and nearly keeled over.

It was awhile before she realized her hysterical fit was being observed. By a very miserable looking Harry and young-likely-related-to-Fred-and-George red head, and their two sulky companions. It was hard to tell who was having the worst time.

Mira waved ecstatically at them, rushing over.

“ Harry! Why are you so glum?” She yelled over the music.

“ Dancing isn’t really our thing.” He said, a little pink the face. Mira raised an eyebrow.

“ I wouldn’t be so sure.” She said, eyeing the twins sitting with crossed arms on either side of the boys. “ I’m Mira!” She shouted, extending her hand to who she learned was Padma, Parvati and Ron.

“ Sorry about the blood I got on your earlier.” Mira said, shaking Ron’s hand over enthusiastically. He muttered it was fine.

“ Lucky you managed to get out of that dance.” Moped Harry, to the dismay of the girl sitting beside him.

“ Merlin, look at them.” Snorted Ron, completely out of context. Harry gave him a questioning look and the twins rolled their eyes, all apparently knowing what he was referring to. Turning around Mira witnessed a young girl in a periwinkle dress being spun enthusiastically around by Viktor Krum.

“ Oh dear, Rina won’t be too happy about that.” Mira laughed, gazing around the dance floor to see if she could spot her.

“ Ruddy pumpkin head, isn’t he?” Ron said, no doubt referencing Krum.

“ Circe, you need to lighten up.” Mira retorted back to him, frowning. Judging by his face and Padma’s expression it was easy to deduce Ron had a crush on either Krum, Krum’s date, or both. She wondered if she should give him a helpful lecture on the pitfalls of possessive attitudes towards people when the girl herself appeared, flushed and grinning.

“ Hot, isn’t it?” She asked, to no one in particular. Everyone but Mira glowered in response, causing the girl to falter.

In effort to detract from the bad mood Mira held out her hand, “ I’m Mira.”

“ Hermione.” The girl said, shaking it and smiling. “ I wanted to tell you I was really impressed with how you got passed the dragon without hurting it at all! How did you do it though? I was watching closely the whole time and there was no indication of your magic, extremely impressive!”

Mira grinned bashfully, “ I don’t know.”

“ You don’t know?” Hermione repeated, face falling.

“ Telepathy maybe.” Mira tapped this side of her temple with a finger. Hermione’s brows knit in confusion.  But before anyone had a chance to question her further Mira was grabbed by the shoulders and swivelled around.

“ What are you doing here?” Liam yelled loudly, to be heard over the pounding music but maybe out of excitement and relief as well.

“ Madame Pomfrey wasn’t too concerned with me.” Mira beamed. He pulled her into a tight hug, which she returned until she noticed Marietta lingering behind.

Awkwardly disentangling from each other they each took a step back. Mira smiled at Marietta, Marietta smiled at her, Liam smiled uncomfortably at the floor, and the other five watched the interaction curiously. A long silence between them all ensued, despite the pounding of the music, before Hermione tried to talk to Harry.

Suddenly remembering the box of chocolates tucked under her arm Mira revealed it to Liam.

“ Madame Pomfrey accidentally gave me these boozy charmed chocolates, if I can tempt you.”

Liam frowned, “ I think you’ve ingested enough strange candy for one day.” Marietta glanced between them after the remark but neither filled her in.

“ I’m _fine._ Better than! I think these are placebo anyway, pretty sure it’s just blood loss that has me feeling this way.”

“ Feeling _what_ way?” Liam asked startled. Mira laughed, shoving him.

“ Good! I feel good! I want to dance!” She yelled, before pushing the box of chocolates into his hands and turning towards the other five.

“ Why don’t you all come dance?” Mira asked the group. Harry and Ron gave her a dubious look. Hermione and the twins looked about to agree but Krum retuned, swooping his date away after a dismal attempt to pronounce her name and brief nod towards Harry and Mira.

Ron looked ever more sour.

About to press further that the miserable foursome join her in blissful release through flailing mindlessly to a beat, she was stopped short by the appearance of a very negative Chel.

“ Why do you look like that?” Mira asked.

Chel’s frown deepened. “ Rina co-opted my date.”  She motioned to a corner of the room, where Rina and indeed _two_ Durmstrang boys were grinding on each other, tongues tangled in a very complicated battle. Chel was not pleased when Mira broke into a fit of giggles.

“ You didn’t even want to go with him!” Mira reminded her. It had been Rina who set Chel up, and she had been complaining about it for days.

Chel crossed her arms and slumped back into the seat beside Parvati, refusing to admit to anything. Liam simply tossed the box of charmed chocolates onto her lap. After a swift inspection of the cover of the box, she removed it and shoved one into her mouth.

Despite the gaze of Marietta, Mira leaned up to Liam’s ear, whispering her plan. He grinned and nodded before they both proceeded to pull the younger students away from the table, Mira taking Parvati and Harry’s hand, Liam taking Ron and Padma’s, leaving Chel to her misery.

“ No choice!” Mira yelled, dragging them towards the less miserable students. The boys were resistant, but their protests were feeble in the face of Mira and Liam’s exaltation. In the thick of the dance floor, Mira cast her anxiety aside, releasing her captives hands and beginning to sway to the music. Liam did the same, with Marietta following along beside him.

Reluctantly Harry made a weak attempt to copy the motions of the dancers around him, Parvati and Padma already doing so, albeit more enthusiastically. Ron attempted to make a run for it but Mira and Liam both grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He stood still, emanating an aura of displeasure for several moments before the discomfort of being the only one not moving sunk in, and he too, began to dance.

Mira smiled happily, tuning everyone out around her and simply enjoying the music, the freedom of movement, the rising heat of the collective bodies. At one point she spotted Nora dancing elegantly with a group of Beauxbaton students, Onyx dreamily swaying alone to her own rhythm, and smiled to see them both enjoying themselves. The only thing to dampen her spirits was whenever she opened her eyes to see Marietta and Liam, still together, although clearly something off sitting between them. Liam was making an effort to be kind, but unable to go beyond that basic level, and Marietta no doubt feeling cast out in some way. She didn’t know how to fix it, unless she could steal Marietta’s affection for herself, which she highly doubted. So she simply kept dancing by herself, happy that she had at least gotten Harry and Ron to stop ignoring the simple desires of their dates.

 

* * *

 

Liam was intensely relieved that Mira was back. Selfishly, he admitted. He _was_ glad nothing had gone seriously wrong with the nosebleed nougat, but he was more immediately glad to have something between him and Marietta. Or more precisely, an escape from having to dance with Marietta near Cedric, who was dancing closely with Cho.

When Cho and Marietta had returned from visiting with their friends Cedric and Liam were still uncomfortably standing in silence and every passing moment of it had Liam feeling increasingly inadequate. By the time the classical music had been replaced with something more youthful he was halfway to the depths of self-hatred. He was an utter idiot for saying yes to Marietta, and an even further idiot for ever entertaining a crush on the Hogwarts champion.

Occasionally brushing sleeves with Cedric as they had all danced together had him spiralling into even deeper pain. So when Mira returned, thankfully only a few songs in, he practically leapt after her, almost forgetting to explain himself to Marietta.

Now on the dance floor again, with Mira and the younger students, he felt more at ease. Even with Marietta still there, he could convince himself they were only friendly. Without the proximity of Cedric and Cho, who he painfully assumed would take off to privacy sometime soon anyway, relieved him of some of his self-loathing.

He couldn’t outrun it, however. It was barely the length of a song before Marietta had waved them over again and Cho and Cedric were introduced into their group.

Mira glanced at Liam, probably noticing his paleness, and without seeming to take any time to think about it, grabbed Marietta and Cho’s hands and began twirling them about chaotically. The two girls erupted into giggles. Mira didn’t stop there, she grabbed Harry and Ron, spinning them as well, encouraging Padma and Parvati to do the same. Pretty soon they were all dancing together in a disorganized jumble, no attention paid to who had arrived together, and other nearby students getting pulled into it.

Mira’s freedom was infectious. One moment she was jumping off beat, another pushing Cedric into Harry as if she were in a mosh pit, then pulling Padma and Marietta apart and swaying between them. She tossed herself about like it was nothing, spun around like she was dancing on air, and successfully had them all laughing and loosening up. Liam found himself grinning, forgetting about his painful social situation, and feeling intensely appreciative for his friend.

“ She seems to have recovered from the minor medical emergency then?” Although yelling it, Cedric had to come close for Liam to be able to hear him over the music.

“ It’s a Christmas miracle.” Liam yelled back, shrugging casually but grinning in a way that no doubt betrayed he knew something Cedric didn’t. He raised an eyebrow before they were both pulled back into dancing.

They continued dancing like that for some time, miraculously Mira never seemed to exhaust her exuberant energy, whenever someone else looking like they had she somehow pulled them back into it.

At one point they were all spinning each other, he wasn’t sure who’s hand found who’s. It seemed only natural at first, but suddenly Cedric was closer than he had ever been – _he_ had pulled Cedric closer than they had ever been – and he could feel his breath on his chin, their eyes were locking, and suddenly tension was wringing Liam’s guts out. He knew his own breath went ragged, and he knew Cedric was close enough to hear it happen. He also knew that he was approaching a boundary he could never come back from, that Cho, that Marietta, that everyone, was a witness. It was equally unclear who let go of who’s hand first, but soon they were apart, as if it had been nothing.

Liam found himself taking an unsteady step back from the group, a moment of pause to recover from the electricity pulsing through him before he could pretend everything was fine again. When Marietta tugged at his sleeve and suggested they get refreshments Liam happily obliged, despite the eerie look Mira gave him. He was sincerely out of breath, from the dancing, from whatever line he’d just crossed, and some punch (and space) felt needed.

Sipping on it from the sidelines he watched as Mira lost herself to the music again, pulling in the other less loose students to do the same. She did have magnetism, he thought. Just as he saw Onyx entering the scene and nearing Mira, Marietta leaned up to his ear and asked if he minded getting some fresh air. Personally, he did mind, but followed her out of the great hall none the less.

They accidentally happened across several pairs of students making out, Rina getting it heavily on with two boys from Durmstrang, the last corner they rounded they found Madame Maxime and Hagrid in a near embrace, causing him and Marietta to burst into giggles as soon as they cleared earshot.

“ Merlin! I never wanted to see that!” Cried Marietta, clutching her heart and sitting down on a finally unoccupied bench.

“ Kind of sweet though!” Laughed Liam, taking a seat beside her.

“Are you having a good time tonight?” She asked, placing her hand over his. A sizzle of nerves ran up his arm. Very different from the ones he’d experienced from his too close encounter with Cedric.

“ Uh yes, lovely.” He said, not taking his eyes off her hand. “ You?”

“ Yes.” She said softly, and her other hand was suddenly on his cheek, and she was leaning forward and her breath was on his chin…

“ Um… Marietta..” She paused, very close to his face. He gulped air before he could continue, “I should have, well I should… I don’t like… I like…” He began very awkwardly, placing his hand over the one on his face and lightly removing it. She reactively flinched away from him, eyes suddenly stormy. The pit of his stomach was in a terrible twist of knots. He’d already come out, why was doing it again so hard?

“ You like someone else.” She said solemnly, eyes crinkling in loss.

“ No! It’s not that.” He blurted, despite it being partially that. Had she noticed whatever weirdness was happening between him and Cedric?

“ You like Mira.” She said with quiet remorse and looking down at her own shoes.

“ Mira? Are you kidding?” He asked, briefly flabbergast. Heteronormativity was so infuriating sometimes.

“ You lit up when she came back. You’ve been staring at her ever since.” She kicked at the ground lightly with her shoe.

“ I wasn’t! Well, maybe, but trust me, we’re only friends.” He knew he had been observing Mira closely, but hadn’t everyone? She was dancing horribly without a single ounce of embarrassment, that was a natural eye puller.

“ I figured you only came with me out of pity anyway. I just wanted… I wanted to enjoy this for one night…” She trailed off and Liam was suddenly angry at everything. Himself, her, Cedric, this entire situation.

“ I didn’t come with you out of pity, don’t be ridiculous! I came with you… Well, because you asked.” He finished lamely, the heat of anger already dying on his lips.

“ Brilliant.” She said, not sounding brilliant at all.

“Marietta… I don’t know why this is so hard for me to tell you. I’m just used to people already knowing so…” He took a deep breath. He had to tell her, he should have told her from the beginning.

She waited expectantly, peeking another look at him.

“ I’m… Um, I’m not really into… women.” He finished weakly, cheeks heating up.

“ Oh.” She said blankly, staring at him a moment.

“ Oh.” He repeated.

“ Oh merlin.” She put her head in her hand, “ does everyone know except for me? Merlin I look so stupid.” She crouched forward.

“ No, I don’t think its widespread news around Hogwarts. Just back home… Everyone knew.” He folded his hands in his lap, also staring at the ground. He almost never wished he was a regular person, he loved being queer, but in this moment, he felt differently. He felt very alone.

“ I’m sorry.” He added, genuinely feeling it but not only for her.

She sighed. “ It’s… It’s alright. I… Well, I just wasn’t expecting it. I knew something was wrong between us.” She sat back up straight again. “ I’ll um… I think we should part ways.” She said, and her voice was firm but something behind it wavered.

“ Alright.” Liam said softly. This wasn’t going ideally, but it could have been worse. She got up to leave, took a few paces before half turning.

“ I don’t… I’m upset, but… I’m not angry with you.” She added very softly.

He swallowed, not knowing what to say back, eventually giving a half nod.

She left and he sat there, feeling emotion bubbling up in his throat and trying his best to swallow it down.

 

* * *

 

Mira was out of breath and slick with sweat when the music slowed. Onyx, who had been dancing in her near vicinity as promised, also looked beat, letting her arms fall to her side. They both caught their breath a second and Mira was about to ask if she wanted to grab a drink when Onyx took her hand and pulled them together, placing her other hand on Mira’s waist.

Despite no longer dancing furiously, Mira’s body temperature instantly raised several degrees.

“ I thought… I thought you didn’t want to dance with me.” Mira breathed, her voice hitching embarrassingly.

Onyx just smiled slightly, before twirling Mira once and pulling her back in.

“ That was only about dancing in front of everyone. This is acceptable.” Mira couldn’t tell if Onyx was smirking at her or just smiling and decided it was easier to look away. She bit her lip, placing her own hand on Onyx’s waist, feeling the silky fabric, how it clung to her even more now that she’d been sweating. They swayed to the music, Onyx graceful and Mira bumbling, causing them to bump together unceremoniously several times, Onyx only laughing, Mira feeling tingly and overwhelmed, at a complete loss for words.

Despite holding her breath the entire song, overcome with Onyx’s natural perfume and grace, she still noticed Marietta flit through the crowd, head bowed and distinctly Liam-less. Happy for something to focus on that wasn’t how much silence was between herself and her dance partner, she watched as she caught Cho’s elbow, who was dancing slowly with Cedric, and whispered something into her ear. She then stepped back, shaking her head, turned to leave but was stopped by a concerned Cho. Several more pieces of dialogue were exchanged between the two before Cho followed Marietta out of the room, leaving a dumbfounded Cedric. Something had clearly happened between Liam and his date, and Mira had a good idea of what that was.

The song ending and being replaced with upbeat music brought her back to her current situation. Suddenly there was no oxygen in the room and Mira was again at a loss. Onyx, very close, so close she could feel the heat radiating off her body, let go with a tense expression. Mira’s heart dropped until she realized Onyx was staring at something beyond her.

Turning around Mira saw a very intoxicated Chel stumbling and pointing dramatically at an entire group of students. She couldn’t hear what she was saying over the music but had a good idea it wasn’t anything positive.

As soon as Chel took out her wand, which appeared to take considerable effort in her current state, Onyx said, “ think I better go stop this before it gets worse.”

Mira was torn between feeling robbed of Onyx’s closeness and being glad that she was now free to find Liam. She began gazing about for him, spotting Harry and Ron and their dates awkwardly dancing but clearly having more fun than sitting around. She smiled slightly, _at least she’d done something good this tournament_ , she thought, before her eyes landed on Cedric, alone by an intricate ice sculpture.

She began making her way through the once again chaotically surging crowd, thinking maybe he had more insight as to what was going on. Before she got there however Cho returned and began speaking to him in a rapid, hushed tone.

Sneaking around the other side of the ice sculpture, she tried to eavesdrop.

“ Did you know? Was that why you were so funny about them going together?” Mira overheard Cho asking Cedric in an unimpressed voice.

“ No, he never told me.” Cedric was frowning, looking lost in thought.

“ I feel so bad…” Cho began, “ for both of them. Obviously he shouldn’t have gone with her, but there must be a reason he felt uncomfortable sharing. Merlin…”

“ Merlin…” Cedric repeated, still frowning and gazing without seeing at the remaining dancing students.

“I’m sorry, Cedric, but I’ve really got to go keep Marietta company.” Cho said sadly, clearly torn between obligation between her friend and her date.

Cedric shook his head, “ it’s alright. Things are wrapping up here anyway.” He said looking down at her. She took his hand and gently squeezed it in thanks before turning and dashing away.

Mira didn’t know what to do. Liam had obviously told Marietta, and no doubt she hadn’t been too happy about it, and now she’d told Cho and Cedric… Were the students here going to be weird about it? She watched as Cedric continued to stand still, drinking his punch, pinched brows. Cho had mentioned he’d been funny about Marietta and Liam… Mira could only speculate what that meant, before she continued her search for Liam.

She found him leaving the fairy garden, eyes down, posture drooping. His magical robes, previously indiscernible in colour, now seemed to be hovering between grey and muddy brown, many of the stars extinguished.

“ Liam.” Mira said softly, standing before him. He looked up, their eyes meeting, and he didn’t have to say anything for her to know how he was feeling.

“ You want to dance it off?” She said lightly, resting a hand on his arm.

“ I don’t know…” He mumbled.

“ Fire whiskey? Chel ate all the chocolate, but I have a feeling she located something more.” Mira tried to joke and Liam tried to smile but it faltered when his eye caught on something behind Mira.

When she turned to see what it was she saw Cedric leaving the great hall, looking thoughtful as before. Liam made a barely audible sound of distress. Before she could do anything Cedric’s eyes had moved up, seeing first Mira and then Liam, his steps coming to a halt, questions in his eyes.

Liam began to stammer, “ I think we… Um, we better…”

Something complicated was brewing in Cedric’s mind but he didn’t look like he was going to run away. Liam, however, seemed to want to do just that.

“ Let’s go.” He muttered, and turned around to leave the castle.

With only a glance that Mira hoped Cedric read as apologetic, she followed after him, leaving the Yule festivities to sizzle out without them.


	20. Avoidance

Chel was hospitalized due to alcohol poisoning and returned to their camp the next morning with a massive headache, spotty memory and lack of her usual sharp retorts. She was even too tired to start a fight with Rina, despite there being opportunity, and immediately retreated to the solitude of her tent to sleep the rest of her pain off.

“ What the hell happened?” Mira whispered to Onyx. They’d all been sitting at the table, enjoying  a particularly non-festive breakfast.

“ I’m not sure she even knows.” Onyx replied. “ Those chocolates you gave her certainly had an effect.”

“ Madame Pomfrey gave them to me.” Mira was somewhat sulky in response to the blame she heard in her voice.

Onyx raised an eyebrow, “ oh? That explains why she went so pale examining Chel.”

Mira snorted, “ I think it was a momentary lapse in good sense on her part.”

“ No doubt. Is Liam alright?” He hadn’t joined them for breakfast. After he and Mira had returned from the ball he had wanted to be alone. Mira was worried about him but didn’t want to press too hard.

“ I’m not entirely sure.” Onyx didn’t ask what happened and Mira had the strange sense that it was because she already knew, and not because of gossip. Her elbow brushed against Mira as she reached across the table for the cinnamon and Mira couldn’t help but wonder if they were sitting closer together than usual.

 

* * *

 

The rest of the holidays passed in a melancholy blur. The snow wasn’t the same as it was up north, and although the lack of cold and the additional daylight were not unwelcome, it didn’t feel the same. They all had to continuously tend to their greenhouse projects so they wouldn’t die off, and Mira had to stay up an entire night over her potion, crushing herbs and sprinkling them in at very specific intervals. It hadn’t exploded yet, so she was as close to happy with it as could be. Moll had given her special access to any ingredients she needed, without so much as asking an explanation.

Liam was moody for two and a half days after the ball, but allowed himself to be coaxed out for a makeshift quidditch game. They played sloppily, most of their homemade brooms brittle on the breeze, except for Rina and Chel’s, the only real players. Although it was arranged in good fun, it came to a quick end when one of the balls Chel had been hurtling at Rina (repeatedly, throughout the game) actually hit the mark, her head erupting in blood that rivalled Mira’s nosebleed.

Onyx landed beside her and began flitting her hands about in some unknown spell. The blood ceased for a second, only to recommence a moment later with equal force.

“ She’s got to go to the hospital wing.” Onyx grimaced, magicking a bandage and pressing it tightly to her head.

“ Serves her right.” Muttered Chel, who was still hovering in the air, arms crossed.

“ Drop it.” Onyx said with a cold stare, wrapping an arm around Rina, who was clearly still seeing stars, and guiding her in the direction of the school. Nora anxiously dropped to the ground and followed along with them.

Chel scoffed and flew high up into the air again, whizzing through the winds like it was nothing.

“ What’s up with them?” Mira asked, flying unsteadily closer to Liam. Her broom was finicky, didn’t like it when she tried to control the speed. It was happy hovering or darting chaotically around, but protested any slow smooth movement by jerking her sideways. Consistently correcting it throughout their short match had resulted in two large blisters forming on both hands.

“ Think it’s about the ball.”

“ Rina stealing her date?”

Liam shrugged, “ she doesn’t like to lose.”

“ How is that losing? Chel didn’t even like him.”

“ She’s probably just embarrassed.”

“ I can hear everything you’re saying.” Chel yelled down at them from where she was circling above.

“ What’s got your knickers in such a twist?” Liam yelled back up at her.

Chel stopped abruptly and stared out at something neither of them could see from their position below.

“ I don’t like it here.” She said, with unusual softness, before steering off again and zooming away to some unknown location.

Having no desire to continue flying about in quickly worsening weather, Liam and Mira landed and headed back to the clearing. Neither of them spoke for a moment, only the crunch of their boots in the snow sounding between them.

“ You doing alright?” Mira finally ventured.

Liam grimaced, “ you don’t have to check in on me.”

“ You’re one to talk.” Mira scoffed, her annoyance not hidden. He didn’t answer. “ Do I have to give you a speech about how I’m always here for you and it helps to process difficult emotions by talking it over with someone you trust?”

“ Maybe I don’t trust you.”

“ Fuck off.”

He took a deep breath, “ I don’t have the words, Mira. It feels like shit, having to do this again.”

“ Yeah?”

“ I just… I already came out, to everyone, and it was fine, for the most part. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that not everyone knows. Or that people make assumptions about me, being this normal person. And they’re so… shocked, when I turn out to be, y’know.”

“ A raging homosexual,” she supplied.

“ Exactly, yeah,” he answered without missing a beat, then taking a deep breath. “ Back at Tilson… I don’t know, it’s a pretty gay school, I realize now. I didn’t really feel like a minority. But here it’s like… you’re so confronted with being different. People might be okay with the whole men loving men thing, but they don’t understand that the way you relate to the world isn’t the same. It doesn’t even occur to them.”

“ It’s lonely.” Mira finished quietly.

“ It’s lonely.” He repeated slowly, head slightly bowed.

She wrapped an arm around him, patting his shoulder in attempted comfort. She was sure it wasn’t accomplishing anything but he gave her a weak smile nonetheless.

After their brief talk they didn’t mention the ball again, and Liam seemed eager to prove he was alright. Mira knew he was trying to convince himself as much as anyone else, but the effort didn’t seem as forced as she might have thought.

 

* * *

 

Rina was physically fine with one flick of Madame Pomfrey’s wand but her mood was not. She was strangely quiet the entire rest of the day, mostly only speaking to Nora and making passive aggressive comments about Moll not punishing Chel for her drunken behaviour. This led Chel to make less passive more aggressive comments that Rina should be punished for being a “total slut” at the dance, which resulted in Onyx telling her to take a hike.

“ Tell Rina to take a hike!” Chel huffed back, something evil in her eye.

“ You shouldn’t call anyone a slut.” Nora pointed out.

“ I’m fucking sick of you all.” Chel said sharply back before leaving their encampment to no one knew where.

“ Something is way up her ass.” Rina huffed.

“ Think it might be you.” Liam responded nonchalantly.

Rina’s mouth fell open in shock, “ I do _not_ deserve that!”

“ No one says you do. But you did steal her date without apologizing.” He simply shrugged, turning a page of the wizarding world magazine he’d found abandoned in the great hall earlier.

“ She dumped him!” Rina exclaimed.

“ Did she?” Mira asked, wondering for the first time if maybe it was something else with Chel.

“ Yes! She literally told him to fuck off!”

“ Did something else happen between you two?” Asked Nora, who had been for the most part not appreciating the new attention from Rina but trying her best to be accepting. Mira figured she was trying to come up with a plan to get Rina and Chel back on good terms so she wouldn’t have to take the full force of Rina’s attention for herself.

Rina only shrugged, “ she’s just been a complete bitch ever since I tried to get her a date.”

“ You shouldn’t call her a bitch.” Nora replied.

“ Whatever.” Rina huffed, crossing her arms, “ All I’m saying is I didn’t do shit.”

Mira didn’t entirely believe that, knowing Rina wasn’t always the most observant or sensitive socially. She wasn’t the only one hoping they would resolve whatever it was between them. Chel was already difficult, angry and upset Chel was near impossible.

 

* * *

 

Mira was only trying to eat lunch. It was the day before classes started up again and the castle would be bustling as usual, she wanted to enjoy a final meal without the buzzing crowd. She’d been particular about avoiding everyone all day, trying to get in as much alone time as she could, and headed up to lunch on her own, and planned to sit quietly by herself to enjoy it.

She was disturbed from this dream. A young Hogwarts champion was lingering about the foyer and as soon as she entered into the castle, tapping off the dirty snow stuck on her boots, she was accosted.

“ Can I have a word?” Asked a handsome as usual, except for a tad anxious around the eyes, Cedric.

Mira didn’t need to vocalize how much she _did not_ want to have a word with Cedric, or anyone. It was all in her face, her posture, the way she stuck her hands into her pockets and bit down on her lips unattractively. But she nodded yes, internally cursing curiosity.

“ Headed to lunch?” He asked, motioning. Again she nodded, and to her great disappointment they entered the great hall together and sat down at the hufflepuff table, together.

She disgruntledly filled her plate with food, still not having said a word. Cedric seemed to be waiting for some kind of signal from her to begin but she didn’t give one. She was shoving a large mouthful of potatoes in her mouth when he finally realized she was not going to start the conversation for him.

“ erm…” He attempted to begin. The agitation he had now was characteristically un-Cedric. She raised an eyebrow, shoveling in another forkful of food.

“ I was just…” He began again, “ does Liam dislike me?”

Mira nearly choked. “ What?” She asked, her mouth still full of food.

Cedric stared at her, the anxiety much more clear in his face, along with almost a pleading expression to not making him say it again.

“ Liam doesn’t dislike anyone.” Mira shook her head, before swallowing a big gulp of pumpkin juice.

“ I didn’t think so. It’s just… He’s been avoiding me ever since…” He trailed off, knowing that she would know exactly when they’d stopped speaking. But what Mira didn’t know was that Liam had been avoiding Cedric since then. She wasn’t particularly surprised to hear it, was more so surprised that Cedric had been attempting to seek him out.

“ You tried to talk to him?”

“ A few times. He always disappears as soon as I see him.”

Mira frowned. She didn’t know what to tell Cedric. Obviously she was in no position to tell the truth _oh yes Cedric, it’s because he has a massive crush on you and is worried you know and will reject him publicly, crushing his heart forever with your dashing smile and good manners._ She didn’t want to outright lie either, though.

When she seemed lost in thought he filled in the blank himself, “ I know I was a bit of a prat at the ball.”

“ Were you?” Mira asked without thinking.

“ So he hasn’t told you anything?”

“ He didn’t mention you being a prat, what did you do?”

“ I was, I dunno, not very present. Sort of distracted all night.”

Mira outright laughed. Cedric was not very appreciative of that reaction, but she couldn’t help thinking about how trivial of a concern it was he was clearly suffering over. Liam _had_ mentioned that Cedric had been a little weird all night, but she’d also seen them get awfully close more than once while they were all dancing and had her own theories as to why that was.

“ What I mean is…” Cedric was visibly blushing now, and Mira would be lying if she didn’t love witnessing the discomposure of the Hogwarts champion. “ What I mean is that I hope he doesn’t think I hold what happened between him and Marietta against him.”

“ You mean you’re alright with the fact that he’s a flaming homo?” She was enjoying his discomfort perhaps a little too much.

He got even more pink but didn’t falter, “ yes.”

“ Good to know, Cedric. I’ll pass it along.” She smiled, sitting back a little and picking up her fork again.

“ Thank you.” He said, sounding genuinely relieved, getting up from the table to leave.

“ No promises this will make him want to hang out with you again, though.” She couldn’t help but add, knowing full well she wore a mischievous face but trying to hide it by shoving food into her mouth again. He grimaced and nodded before he left.

Finally alone, Mira had more to think about than she would have liked. To tell Liam or not? He wasn’t moping about the boy, but was severing a friendship between them the better option? In Mira’s fantasy world, Cedric was deeply and hopelessly in love with Liam, but she had no way of verifying if that was real outside of her head. She didn’t want Cedric’s olive branch to put Liam in a situation in which he had to engage in closer proximity to him while Cedric was really, seriously, in love with Cho. She had a feeling Liam wouldn’t be able to resist the friendship, even if it ripped his heart out.

But ultimately, it would be Liam’s choice.


	21. wondering wandering

Moll brought her hand up to the door, thinking how amusing it was that it looked so _ominous._ It must be, she thought, spelled to have this effect. A drift of her palm over the door before she knocked verified that she was correct, and it only made it all the funnier.

She was just descending her knuckles to the dark wood when the door was pulled open.

A perturbed looking Karkaroff was in the doorway, Snape, unreadable, holding it open for him.

“ Matron Moll.” Professor Snape greeted in a distasteful voice. She was not deterred.

“ Professor Karkaroff, Professor Snape.” She said jovially, nodding to both of them, her eyes gleaming at the scandal she was forming in her head of _these two, together, privately_ , and scrambling through the catalogue of her memory for anything she knew of their past lives, how they would intersect.

“ I vas just leeving.” Karkaroff said curtly, without greeting, and ushered himself quickly out.

“ Still on to take my students tomorrow afternoon?” Moll called after him. He seemed to stumble a moment.

“ Vhat? Oh, yes. Very well, fine.” He said quickly, before hurrying away. _Quite suspicious_ , she thought.

When she turned back to Snape he had an eyebrow raised at her.

“ How may I assist you at this very inconvenient hour?” He drawled, but Moll was rather expert at extricating someone’s true feelings from their words and their tone.

“ Severus, I was wondering if I might be able to talk potions with you a moment, should that be amenable to you?” But she was already walking past him into his apartment, noting that it was much less ominous once you got passed the door.

“ It appears we will be talking about it whether I feel like doing so or not.” He responded, without nearly as much tiredness as she knew he was attempting to convey.

* * *

Mira had told Liam about Cedric. She’d been wary when she said it - arms crossed, cold nipping at them both but feet planted in the snow and a look in her eye that said “I’ve got something to say that maybe I shouldn’t”.

“ What is it?” He had asked, feeling his lungs squeeze in apprehension. They were just out of the castle, long orange glow from the windows cast against the snow that reflected blue winter night. Their breath was making clouds, and it was the only thing they could hear for a moment.

They’d been talking about home, and the holidays, how that was over, how they understood why this could be commonly called the most depressing time of year, but they were both alright, yeah?

“ I don’t know if I should say.” She said slowly, regarding him carefully.

“ You can’t tell me that and _not_ say it.” He pointed out, looking down and half-heartedly kicking snow towards her.

“ I know.” She said softly. She looked at the castle, then down towards the forest, her brow crinkled in thought like it so frequently was.

“ Out with it.” He said, although he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“ Cedric spoke to me.” She said, and she was watching his reaction, which was air leaving his lungs.

 _What about?_ He only thought it, he didn’t feel like speaking was appropriate in that moment, like it might tempt something worse.

“ He thinks you hate him, and he still wants to be friends, and doesn’t care if you like being fucked by or fucking men.” She said calmly, a hint of something he couldn’t quite read in her eye.

“ Oh.” Was all he said.

“ Why were you avoiding him?” She asked, judgement edging into her voice. They both knew she meant _why didn’t you tell me_?

He shrugged and started walking towards the clearing again. He had thought she was going to say something more consequential. Like, someone wanted to beat him up or he couldn’t eat at the hufflepuff table anymore.

“ You don’t have to be friends with him.” Mira said, following after him, “ if it hurts.”

“ I know.” Was all he had said, before they dropped the subject altogether.

Which is exactly how he ended up in the library  after telling Mira he was turning in early, not looking for Cedric but not _not_ looking for Cedric.

* * *

Mira was in the green house late that night, well passed eleven, dropping in jellyfish phlegm and crushed satyr horn with the appropriate amount of stirs. The jellyfish turned it a lovely shade of electric blue. Lovely if you didn’t think you’d have to consume it.

She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“ Sorry Miranda! Didn’t mean to startle you.” Moll didn’t look apologetic though.

“ It’s alright.” Mira said, immediately starting to clear her untidy work space.

“ I’ve just come to bring you the essence of sea slug you required, straight from Professor Snape’s personal store. Don’t tell him I gave it to you though.” Moll winked, handing over a tiny vial.

“ Um, yes, thanks…” Mira replied, taking it into her hand. She wouldn’t require the essence until the next full moon, almost a month away (only a few days before the second task).

“ Coming along well, then?” Moll asked, peering into the cauldron. “ Yes, seems so.” She answered for herself.

Mira simply nodded, not liking to be observed by someone so experienced and competent when she worked. It made her anxious about her own inadequacy.

“ And everything else? How is it going?”

_Everything else?_

“ Sorry?” Mira asked, unsure.

“ Nervous about the next task?” Moll asked. It was unclear whether she was onto a new train of thought or this is what she’d always been referring to.

“ Yes… I suppose, can’t really figure out what they’re—”

Moll held up her hand to stop her, her eyes focused on something on the table.

“ Can’t tell me what you know, I’m not allowed to help you.” She said, somewhat distracted.

“ But you’ve already been….” Mira began, watching as Moll picked up a letter from the table.

“ You write your sister quite often.” She noted, scanning the letter and putting it quickly back down. Mira was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the interaction.

“ Um… Yes.”

“ Very good. Goodnight Miranda.” And she left as swiftly as she’d arrived, Mira feeling notably strange about all of it.

* * *

Karkaroff was a brutal teacher.

Brutally awful.

To be fair, he thought the Tilson students were brutally awful students, and for his methods, they were. His own students, Mira noted, exhibited a deep level of respect and near fear of the man. They followed his command without questioning.

This was not the Tilson way.

At Tilson, you ask questions. It’s taught that you have the right to know exactly why you’re doing something, why one method over another, so forth and so on. The lessons were as much about context and experimentation as they were about results.

Durmstrang was only about results.

“ Professor, sorry again, I just don’t really understand _why_ we need to learn this method?” Rina asked. He was drilling wand figure techniques, had scoffed rather loudly upon examining the homemade knobby Tilson wands and gone on at length about the superiority of orderliness when it came to magic, without giving a single real example as to why.

He did not enjoy it when his new students pointed that out.

His own students stiffed up anytime Rina asked a question, or Onyx succeeded in producing more powerful magic by adapting his technique into something more fluid. Nora was the only one who followed the methods properly, but Karkaroff ignored her anyway.

“ Vis is just how it iz!” He shouted for the millionth time. He pulled out his own wand and demonstrated the standard wand pattern for a blocking spell.

“ Yes but,” Rina began again, “ why wouldn’t I just use this quicker approach?” She demonstrated another wand movement, similar but less rigid. Steam was basically coming out of Karkaroff’s ears.

“  It’s less powerful.” Nora answered for him, “ the quicker approach leaves room for a breech in your shield.”

“ Izn’t zat obvious? Vy else would I be teeching it to you?” Karkaroff scowled, clearly thinking Nora was trying to undermine him. She didn’t try it again, and the rest of the Tilson students silently understood that Nora would be re-teaching them this lesson later tonight.

He continued to ruthlessly insult the Tilson students, praising Viktor Krum over and over again. Krum seemed to try not to hear the praise, and hyper focus on his spell casting. The determination on his face made it clear why he’d be such a good Quidditch player, thought Mira, despite still never having seen a real Quidditch match.

Rina eventually realized that asking Karkaroff for explanations wasn’t getting her anywhere, and dissolved from attempting to learn to flirting with the two Durmstrang boys she’d been sucking face with at the ball. Chel’s face was pale, jaw clenched, and she resolutely made eye contact with absolutely no one. At one point her shield charm came off so powerful it shoved one of the boys into Rina, causing the hex he was sending to miss the mark and hit Liam in the leg, causing him to trip and his own hex to ricochet off the ceiling and hit Krum in the back of the head.

No one was seriously hurt but Karkaroff kicked them out and told them never to come back again.

“ Why did Moll even send us to that fascist anyway?” Chel spat on their trudge through the snow back to their clearing. Mira was wondering the same thing.

“ It’s a learning experience we wouldn’t have had otherwise.” Nora answered logically, the only person who hadn’t been outright verbally abused by Karkaroff.

“ Not exactly one I feel was necessary.” Liam answered honestly, his steps still a little uneasy from the hex that had hit him.

“ No one ended up hospitalized at least.” Rina said, sounding chipper, likely because she helped Krum up after he stumbled and was having a fame induced contact high.

“ What are you trying to get at?” Chel glowered back.

Rina faltered a moment, and everyone fell into an uneasy silence, waiting to see if this would erupt into some kind of a duel. Eventually Chel just scoffed at herself and said something under her breath about going to dinner early before disappearing in the direction of the castle.

“ Has anyone else thought Moll’s been a little odd lately?” Mira asked, not realizing that Nora was in the midst of questioning Rina on new developments between Rina and Chel’s ruined friendship.

“ Uh, not really.” Liam said, filling in the silence.

“ Why do you ask?” Onyx asked, stepping around Rina to get closer.

“ I don’t know.” Mira shrugged, because she couldn’t put her finger on it. “ Just something… Weird. Probably just me.” She shrugged again, distracted by Onyx’s dark hair fluttering in the breeze.

* * *

Sharing Mira’s memories had changed her and Liam’s relationship. It had been terrifying at first, and weird to adjust to, but he was certain he knew her now in a way he could never have if it hadn’t happened. When things went unspoken between them, they were still known.

It was strange, having that level of understanding with someone you’d only started to get to know a few months previous. He was glad for it, but sometimes it made him nervous. He knew that Mira knew he was wondering the castle in the evenings, and he knew that she knew he was pining after Cedric hard, even though he tried to hide it.

The other side was that he also knew that she was pining after Onyx. He felt like he was more aware of it than even she was. But he knew better than to press the issue, he knew that she wasn’t ready for anything there and that was okay. He also knew that Mira was practising the same restraint with him, giving him easy exits for his night time wanderings with no dreaded questions.

But the night time wanderings were starting to make him feel even more miserable. He figured he was going to have to spill his guts to his friend soon, let out some of his pent up angst. He’d been lingering around the castle for a week now, without ever running into his preferred champion (in terms of attraction, of course he was firmly team Mira when it came down to it).

He found himself in the dim library again, his usual routine of pacing about pretending to look at books, when it occurred to him that the second task was coming up quickly. It was what, just over a month away now? He couldn’t remember the last time they’d discussed it, or if she was feeling apprehensive. He knew that she disappeared into the greenhouse to work on her strange potion, but that had become routine and had somehow faded out of being worthy of remark. He wondered if there was any information on the creatures in the school’s lake in the library, if he should bother helping her out or if she was just going to pull some weird inexplicable form of magic that looked like going for a lazy swim. He didn’t even know if he should be anxious on her behalf.

 _Fuck I’m a shit friend_ he thought, just as he rounded a bookshelf and his eyes landed on no other than Cedric Diggory, buried deep in old texts.

All thoughts of Mira immediately exited his mind.

Cedric was so focused that Liam wondered if he should walk away, was about to take a half-step back when he stopped himself. Since the ball, they’d only exchanged half smiles that Liam hoped communicated _I don’t hate you_ but then looking away swiftly enough not to encourage him to approach.

It was about time he stopped being such a fucking coward.

Affecting an easiness he didn’t feel, Liam walked forward and look a casual seat in the chair next to Cedric’s.

“ So what are we researching then?” He said, surprised, almost a little smug, at how calm his own voice sounded.

Cedric’s head snapped up, he opened his mouth, closed it, almost grinned and said, “ the evolution of love potions.”

Liam wanted to burn up at that response, but just smiled.

“ Dubious form of magic, Cedric. You sure you want to get into that?” He said cheekily.

Cedric half laughed, and was –maybe, it was hard to tell in the dim light – blushing, as he looked down at the parchment he was writing on.

“ erm, it’s for class. I wouldn’t otherwise… be investigating.” He said awkwardly, but smiling.

“ Of course you wouldn’t need to.” Liam responded, promptly opening one of the texts and avoiding looking at the other boy’s face. “ The thing about early love potions is that it was more or less just fermented fruit juices that became alcoholic.”

“ And how do you know about this?” Cedric asked, raising an eyebrow.

“ We can’t all be champions, Cedric.” Liam said, licking his finger and turning the page of one the texts exaggeratedly.

Cedric laughed and began, “ I hardly think you’d ne—”

Desperately wanting to avoid a forced compliment from Cedric Liam cut him off, “ had to study something similar a few years back.”

“ Glad for the help, then.” Cedric admitted, and even though Liam kept his gaze trained on the pages of the text he could feel Cedric regarding him with something close to softness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please kudos or comment if you feel like encouraging ;)


	22. Books, Bathtubs and Cosmic Alignment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is unabashedly ridiculous.

“ I’m sure you’ve all been practicing your dreaming, this should be no challenge for you.” Moll said after showing them an immensely complex diagram showcasing the “basics of astral projection”. They hadn’t sat down to a properly scheduled lecture in weeks. A few impromptu speeches on some vaguely relevant healer or potion master, long meandering walks through the forest in which they came across impressively few creatures, and an ever taller stack of essays to write without the promise of ever receiving a graded one back, but very little actual class.

“ What?” Chel said emptily. Nothing about the layered swirling before them seemed anywhere near doable, not even to Mira who was the most advanced dreamer present, apart from Moll.

Noticing the lost look on her students faces for the first time Moll asked, “ haven’t you been practising?”

“ No.” Chel again, but everyone else’s face showed they also had not been practising.

“ What about those _two weeks_ we spent in Quebec?” Moll asked, exasperated.

“ You never brought it up again!” Rina exclaimed loudly.

“ You did say magical fields in Europe are so drastically different we wouldn’t have to worry about it.” Nora added, slightly embarrassed, as she was known for keeping up with all of her studies more than anyone else in the group.

“ Did I?” Moll seemed genuinely shocked.

They all nodded.

“ Oh. Well, that is a fact, however I did not mean not to continue with your own personal dream practice. It is one of our most valuable refuges as sorcerers.” She stated, as if this was entirely obvious.

They stared blankly back.

“ _None_ of you have been?” She asked, wide eyes gazing over each of her students.

Liam not so subtly nudged Mira, who chose to ignore him. She had been dreaming, but the memory sharing incident with Liam had made her less willing to push the boundaries again. It had been too close to dismantling the assurance of safety she’d forged with her peers, and with herself.

“ Well…” Moll began, looking suddenly at a loss, “ I suppose this entire lesson plan will be a write off. To the greenhouses with you then!” She flicked her book of notes shut and it whirled out of their sight in a flurry of paper.

They were all about to depart when Nora spoke up, “ I think our greenhouse assignments are in more danger of being overworked.”

“ Hmm?” Moll was halfway to leave herself.

Nora hesitated, “ Just… we’ve been spending an awful lot of time in there lately, isn’t there anything else you could teach us?”

After their sit-in with the Durmstrang students it had become increasingly obvious that their education had some massive gaps in it. Yes, they were all able to recite an impressive list of enchanted fungi, and other very specific areas of magic, but overall general knowledge, they were miles behind. Karkaroff had nearly screamed this at Moll during dinner one evening, and even she hadn’t had the skill to assuage him. Professor Snape had had to step in with a few snide quips, it was all highly embarrassing.

“ Oh…” Moll frowned, again looking at a loss. “ I suppose we could reconvene at midnight tonight to observe some astrological phenomena.”

“ Midnight?” Chel groaned. Mira wasn’t too up for that idea either, that’s usually around when she could bare to focus on her potion brewing, now she’d have to either do it earlier (unlikely) or begin at two in the morning (unappealing).

“ Yes. The usual hour.” Moll said dismissively. When they all continued to blank stare she asked, “why are you all looking so dejected? Have you all lost all sense of discipline?”

“ We just… Haven’t exactly stayed up like that since being back home.” Rina mumbled, crossing her arms. They’d all gotten rather used to a lackadaisical schedule, and the idea of returning to a rigorous “all hours are learning hours” regiment wasn’t exactly a welcome one.

“ Have I not taken you stargazing during our time here? I could swear I have…” Moll pondered more to herself than her class.

“ Like once.” Chel said, mustering a great deal of distaste in two single words.

“ Oh. Tonight, then! Meet me at the castle steps at midnight exactly.” Moll winked at them before quickening away before anyone could stop her with another demand for learning. Mira wondered if this could be considered more strange behaviour on their instructors part, normally she’d at least fill their heads with some ridiculous anecdote?

“ Why’d you have to do that Nora?” Chel spat when Moll was out of earshot.

Nora seemed to shrink but didn’t back down from stating her reasoning, “ I don’t want to return to my final year at Tilson behind all the other students.”

“ We’re not behind, are we?” Asked Rina, oblivious.

“ Haven’t noticed the increase in lectures we _aren’t_ having?” Liam joked.

“ She’s too busy being a total slag.” Chel mumbled, everyone heard it and everyone chose to ignore her. They each broke off to find something to do for the day, until midnight came along ten hours later. Mira kicked at the ground, it _was_ getting a little boring having nothing but her greenhouse and the potion to focus on. There was too much time to stress about dying in the second task.

She was just about to take a long stroll towards the lake to stare at the black surface and contemplate what it was going to feel like to drown in it when Liam shoved a book in her hands.

“ What’s this?” She asked, turning it over. It was old and dusty, but thinner than the usual ancient sorcerer text. The cover read _Mental Vigour: guide to being a freak witch._ “ Sorry, correction. What the _hell_ is this?”

“ Flip through, I think you’ll find it useful.” He shrugged, pocketing his hands.

“ Is this a sex book?” She said, flipping it open and hoping for diagrams.

“ No. It’s about having strange mental abilities.” He said, looking at the ground and seeming a little bashful.

“ Oh god, you’re being thoughtful, aren’t you?” Mira said in false disgust, lifting the book as if to hit him with it.

“ No. Just another way to tell you you’re a freak.” He remarked, flinching away and laughing.

“ You’ve been spending an awful lot of time in the library, haven’t you?” Mira asked. Liam just shrugged and made up some lie about having to meet Rina to work on their greenhouse project, but there was a glint in his eye that told her he was okay with her knowing the truth.

She knew the truth was he was in the library often because of Cedric. She had no real idea _why_ she was so certain that was the case, apart from the blatant cheerfulness and stupid smiling they did at each other from across the dining hall, and the fact that Cedric sometimes ate lunch with them now, and also, of course, the fact that Cedric had said “see you at the library” after dinner once.

If Cedric didn’t smugly have his arm slung around Cho half the time Mira might have called the air between him and Liam flirtatious. But he did have his arm around Cho most of the time, and that worried Mira, for Liam’s sake.

* * *

Every day for two and a half weeks Liam would “accidentally” bump into Cedric in the library. He was always already sitting there, deep in a stack of books with his robe slightly unfastened and hair falling in his face, brow crinkled in concentration. His appearance nearing the closest thing to dishevelled he could imagine Cedric getting. Sometimes he would look up and catch Liam’s eye and the small smile that pulled at the corner of his lips was the only thing that made up for the disappointment of not having a second to just _stare_.

If he didn’t look up, he couldn’t help himself. It was the only time he allowed himself to indulge in looking. Those few seconds of pause were the only seconds of the day he let the tingling sensation of awe fill his heart - an appreciation for beauty that seemed to literally swell in his chest - before taking a breath, and then taking his seat.

Because they were just friends. And that was good, and whole, and enough on its own.

So he’d take his seat and make some joke and hopefully Cedric would laugh and then they’d help each other with whatever it was they chose to work on that day. Sometimes they would stay there so late Madame Pince would threaten to set the ghosts on them for a proper haunting if they kept lingering. Other times Cedric had to leave early for prefect duties and Liam masked his disappointment.

Today was the first time Cedric wasn’t there first.

Liam had sat down at their usual table and pretended he wasn’t nervous that these evenings were over and waited, leaning too far back in his chair and tapping his hand on his knee. When the Hogwarts champion did round the corner, he fell out of his chair.

Cedric laughed at him shamelessly before helping him up – his touch possibly making Liam blush more than the embarrassing fall, but he was trying his best not to think about it - and then Cedric told him he had to do extra rounds because the other Hufflepuff prefect was in the hospital wing from a transfiguration accident.

Liam could feel his disappointment slipping through when he said it was alright.

Maybe that was why Cedric had said he could use Liam’s company. Liam had agreed way too quickly, but Cedric pretended not to notice.

Liam had thought: _just friends. We’re just fucking friends._

They were on the fifth floor, walking aimlessly, or so it seemed to Liam.

“ Seriously? Right in the back of Krum’s head?” Cedric laughed, after Liam had told him about Tilson’s one and only sit-in class with the Durmstrang students.

“ Complete accident.” Liam shrugged, but internally he was grinning like mad at making Cedric laugh.

“ I can’t believe Karkaroff didn’t blast your head off for hurting his golden boy.” Cedric shook his head.

“ I figure it’s still coming. I try to hide whenever I see him, honestly.” Liam admitted, because it was partially true. Every time he’d come within visual range of Karkaroff since the incident he’d received a glare he was sure was conveying some sort of dark magic all on its own.

“ He’s got bigger things to worry about, with the second task.” Cedric said, sounding markedly less cheerful.

“ How are you feeling about it?” Liam asked, figuring he was referring more so to his own anxiety.

“ Um…” Cedric began, but frowned and didn’t go any further.

“ Not too good?” He supplied.

Cedric looked at him questioningly, “ has Mira… er, has she figured it out?”

Liam nodded casually, “ she’s got some complex brew on the go. Not one to be particularly open about her anxieties, though.” He shrugged, although he was certain she was anxious. But more so sure she wouldn’t want him talking about it to other people.

“ Um so…” Cedric seemed briefly on the edge of vulnerability but quickly recoiled“ sorry this is cheating.” He shook his head, shoving his hands into his pockets and staring at his feet as he walked.

Liam scoffed, leaning over and shoving him a bit with his shoulder, “ isn’t cheating the longest running tradition? You think Karkaroff and Maxime aren’t helping their champions day and night?”

He stopped walking, “ is Moll helping Miranda then?”

Liam paused, “ not exactly… It was more so Onyx who figured out it was merpeople.”

“ _Merpeople?_ ” Cedric’s shock was unhidden.

“ Oh shit, you didn’t know?” Liam turned to look at him completely, not liking the tinge of anxiety he saw in the other boy’s face.

Cedric just shook his head, cheeks pink.

“ Fuck, I would have told you ages ago. You have to put it under water.” Liam rushed to say, not even considering that he wasn’t supposed to.

Cedric’s mouth hung open a second, before his gaze focused on something behind Liam, and then darted down to his bag. Contemplation clouded his face before he was marching quickly past Liam.

Turning, Liam saw him heading straight for a statue, the same one he had seen him exit from behind shortly after they’d first met. He could still remember the floral and musky scent that had followed him that day. He often smelled like that, but it had been more pronounced then. Without thinking, he followed.

Cedric whispered a strange name and was suddenly ushering Liam inside a strange room.

A bathroom, to be precise.

 “ Uhh…” Liam began, unsure as to what was going on. He probably shouldn’t have followed.

Cedric, in a flurry of motion, had lifted his robe and tossed it on the floor beside his bag, and was fiddling with one of what seemed like an endless amount of faucets. Scented bubbly water began to fill an enormous pool sized bathtub. Liam’s mind was racing, what in hell was Cedric doing?

Cedric turned then, halfway through unbuttoning his shirt. He froze when he realized Liam was still there, the reality of what was happening settling in.

“ Oh.” Was all Cedric said.

“ Uhh…” Liam repeated, feeling idiotic. Should he turn and run?

Cedric knelt down to his tossed aside bag and pulled out a golden egg, identical to Mira’s. He stood up, holding it before him and looking somewhat sheepish.

“ I was gonna…” He motioned to the rapidly filling tub and Liam tried not to look at Cedric’s half exposed chest.

“ You just carry that thing about with you?” Liam asked, unsure if he should leave or shed his clothing and _take a fucking bath with Cedric fucking Diggory_. Simultaneously wanting to do both.

“ I thought if I felt the weight of it I’d feel more pressure to figure it out.” Cedric admitted, frowning slightly.

Liam nodded stupidly, his tongue feeling a little heavier than usual, unable to get the words _bath_ and _undressed_ out of his mind. It didn’t help that the room was being flooded with the scent of Cedric, and rapidly filling with curling ribbons of steam.

Cedric placed the golden egg beside the bath and continued to undo his shirt.

“ Should I…” Leave? He figured he should probably leave, as it seemed Cedric, a straight man with a girlfriend, was about to disrobe and take a thoughtful steamy soak in a massive tub (that would certainly fit them both more than comfortably, but that was irrelevant).

“ get in? If you want.” Cedric finished.

Liam nearly choked.

Cedric tossed a towel from the rack at him, grinning.

“ When I saw the entrance and you’d told me I had to put it under water, it seemed like brilliant timing.” He said, cheerily, as if this was _nothing_ and undoing his trousers and swiftly removing them.

The thought that this was some kind of test did cross Liam’s mind.

He pulled his sweater over his head.

* * *

Cedric was faking calm.

It _wasn’t his fault_ that the exact moment he’d been told that to figure out the bloody stupid clue he had to hold it under water and the entrance to the prefects bathroom had been _right there_ practically smiling at him. That was the universe aligning. This was greater than him.

Admittedly not informing Liam what he was doing was an oversight.

Telling him – inviting him? – to get into his bath was… Cedric wasn’t sure what that was.

He couldn’t understand himself around Liam. One minute he’s bumbling about not wanting to cheat and nervous to ask for help and the next he’s confidently asking the other man to take a bath with him as if that’s a normal thing to do.

He reminded himself it wasn’t entirely weird. He’d been in here with other prefects. He’d been in here with his Quidditch teammates after a particularly brutal match. The bath was the size of a bloody swimming pool, not exactly intimate, was it?

Why did it feel weird with Liam then?

Was he being homophobic?

Maybe it was the fear of seeming that way that kept his voice so even. He did genuinely want Liam’s help in figuring out the clue. Realizing Mira was already well underway working on something for the next task twisted his gut in nerves, what if he utterly failed? He’d wanted to mention to Liam his anxiety about the second task for the past week but something had always held him back, always veered him away from the subject of champions and glory and potential bloody - watery - death. This timing was a cosmic joke.

He hopped in the water, looking away as Liam undressed. He leaned against the edge of the tub, adjusting to the heat, letting it relax his body and hoping it would also do a number on his mind and inexplicable nerves.

Liam jumped in beside him, going completely under before abruptly resurfacing.

“ Fuck, it feels weird to jump into hot soapy water!” He exclaimed.

Cedric laughed. _Right, this isn’t weird._ Liam shook the water from his hair, releasing a spray of colourful bubbles. It was a second before Cedric realized he was staring and turned to grab the golden egg. “ So I just… hold this under water?” He asked, stupidly.

“ Think so.” Liam nodded, water dripping from his hair, down his neck, his shoulders… Not that Cedric noticed.

“ Here goes.” Cedric said, taking in a breath and submerging himself. Because he needed to hear the clue, not because he needed something to break his gaze from Liam.

He opened it:

_Come seek us where our voices sound,_   
_We cannot sing above the ground,_   
_And while you’re searching ponder this;_   
_We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss,_   
_An hour long you’ll have to look,_   
_And to recover what we took,_   
_But past an hour, the prospect’s black,_   
_Too late, it’s gone, it won’t come back._

He hadn’t known what to expect it to sound like. He hadn’t imagined something beautiful and ethereal, it was near impossible to believe it was the same screeching he’d heard above water.

Resurfacing he took in a breath, Liam following after.

“ Merpeople in the lake?” He asked immediately.

“ That’s what we figure.” Liam responded. Cedric noticed that he’d swam closer to listen to the clue. He also noticed that the water suddenly felt a little hotter, but didn’t want to move away from Liam in case he thought he was being homophobic or anything. Because he wasn’t. He was just hot. Nothing to do with Liam.

“ I guess… I could have just asked you that and not dragged you in here.” Cedric mumbled, feeling stupid.

“ But then I never would have seen this crazy pool.” Liam responded, splashing backwards and floating, bottom half respectably hidden underwater. Cedric wondered if Liam would consider joining a Quidditch team, he had the body for it.

“ There are perks to being a prefect.” Cedric admitted. “ Nancy McGregor, hufflepuff prefect last year, used to shag girls in here on the daily.”

Liam lifted his head and fixed him with a surprised stare and Cedric blushed when he realized the implications of that.

“ Not that I… I would never do that.” He said lamely.

“ Never been in here with Cho?” Liam asked, lazily almost, head tilted back again and staring at the ceiling. Cedric was glad he wasn’t looking at him.

“ No. Just my mates from Quidditch. Not that we got up to shagging! In here. Or anywhere. I have not… done that, with the um, Quidditch team.” Cedric was absolutely mortified at his lack of speech proficiency. He wasn’t usually like this! If he had been this way around Cho she’d never have gone out with him, was Liam going to think he was an utter twat?

“ Just the duel club, then?” Liam easily countered, thankfully still staring at the ceiling and not witnessing Cedric’s glowing red cheeks.

“ Oh yes. Every Wednesday.” He tried to recover.

“ I should join.” Liam replied smoothly, before standing upright and spluttering, “ not that I want to um, _shag_ you, as you say. Um… just duelling. Cool and this tub, how about it, anyhow, can you hold your breath for an hour?”

Cedric raised an eyebrow, not sure if he was glad not to be the only bumbling idiot present. Liam sunk himself until the water came up to his nose. Inexplicably, Cedric wanted to pull him to standing. He did not.

“ I doubt it."

Liam just nodded without making eye contact, keeping his face mostly submerged. There was a long stretch of silence in which Cedric could not think of a single thing to do or say, despite his scrambling brain.

Eventually he held up the egg, “ gonna listen again,” and disappeared under water.

* * *

Mira had gone to the greenhouse to work on her potion before the midnight class but of course, she hadn’t been able to focus, and was instead reading the book Liam had given her, slouching over her work bench.

She wasn’t yet certain if it was relevant to her or not, having only gone through a dense introduction and part of the first chapter. Apparently “freak witches” used to be a lot more common in Europe, and were essential in many pagan rituals of old. It dubbed the course for someone with this type of magic as “treacherous and lonely, but when honed they can achieve mesmerizing results.”

She was only just getting seriously interested when Liam disrupted her, hair sopping wet but slightly frozen stiff from the cold.

“ What the hell happened to you?” She asked, slamming the book shut.

“ Uhhh…” He began, anxiety present in his entire body.

“ Liam!” She yelled, not sure if she should be concerned or laughing.

“ I took a bath with Cedric.” He said flatly, but his eyes were wide like moons.

“ What!?” She hopped up. This was definitely more interesting than any book.

“ This is so bad.” He said, hiding his face in his hands.

“ Literally how? That sounds like your dream?” She guided him to sit on her stool.

“ It is, but I was weird--”

Just then they heard someone yelp loudly and painfully outside, they both instinctively looked towards where the sound was coming from.

Mira looked back at Liam, “ you are absolutely going to have to finish telling me every detail after we ensure no one is being murdered.” They both ran towards the door, opening it to find Rina holding her eye with Chel standing several meters away, wand clutched in hand, and fuming.

Rina was crying.

“ Why are you doing this to me?” She said in a strangled sort of way, voice caught in her emotion.

“ You know why.” Chel hissed back indignantly, wand still raised.

“ No! I don’t know what to apologize for, just tell me and I’ll make it better!” Rina was sobbing, seemed near about to collapse on her knees to beg.

Mira could almost see heat radiating off of Chel, and near expected her to burst into flames. She only glared, a torrent of negative emotions crossing through her face, her wand remaining fixed on Rina’s crumpled frame.

She didn’t lower it until Onyx did it for her, appearing from shadow to put a hand on her shoulder and guide her away. Onyx flashed a look at Mira before turning to whisper something to calm Chel.

Mira and Liam rushed to Rina, who was now quietly crying and still clutching her eye.

“ You alright?” Liam breathed, letting her support her weight on him.

“ No!” Rina didn’t exactly wail.

They both moved her towards Mira and Onyx’s greenhouse, where there was better lighting to inspect whatever Chel had hit Rina with.

Inside, after sitting her down on the edge of a garden bed, she gently moved Rina’s hand aside. Both her eyes were puffy and red, but the one she’d been covering was also developing a nasty bruise.

“ What spell was it?” Mira asked quietly, wondering if she’d know anything that could help.

“ She hit me.” Rina said, a little dumbfounded.

“ yeah, with what?” Mira asked again, taking a closer look. It was rapidly turning a deep purple.

“ No, she _hit_ me.” Rina whispered hoarsely.

“ With her fist?” Liam asked, shocked. Rina simply nodded and then blubbered a little more. Mira went to fetch her water bottle while Liam did a basic anti-swelling spell and then transfigured a rock into an icepack.

After a few awkward moments of trying to silently comfort Rina her crying died down.

“ I just don’t know… I don’t know what I did.” Rina said softly, her voice rough from the previous sobbing. “ I ap-apologized. For the date thing, for the flirting, the whole ball, b-but she just…” She trailed off, hiccuping and taking deep breaths to hold back more tears. Mira passed her the water bottle which she gladly drank from.

“ It’s been over a month!” Rina exclaimed, squeezing her eyes shut.

“ I think she might be experiencing some extreme homesickness and taking it out on you.” Liam supplied, although Mira figured it was a stretch.

Rina shook her head and just looked at the ground.

“ I can’t believe how much this hurts.” She whispered, clutching at her chest.

“ I can try another anti-swelling spell.” Liam offered softly, comforting hand rubbing circles on her shoulder.

Rina shook her head, “ that’s not what I meant.”

Liam and Mira exchanged glances. It was going to be a tense night in the astronomy tower.


	23. Overcast

Onyx subdued Chel’s rage but was unable to convince her to speak to Rina civilly or prevent her from disappearing. When Rina asked if Onyx knew why Chel was so violently furious she just shook her head, her quiet way of saying it wasn’t her place to share, even when Rina begged.

Chel didn’t return to the camp that evening, and didn’t meet them at the castle steps at exactly midnight either. This cast a particularly uneasy feeling over the group. Had she gone into the forest? Was she in the castle? Already up the astronomy tower?

When Moll was also late they speculated that perhaps the two were together, but it wasn’t so.

“ You’re all keen!” Moll expressed pleasantly, and it was Mira’s suspicion that she hadn’t noticed that she was twenty minutes later than her own proposed meeting time. Nobody pointed it out.

They began their trek up to the tower, all of them casting uneasy glances at each other. Moll hadn’t noticed Chel’s absence.

“ Do you know where she is?” Mira whispered to Onyx as they squeezed up the narrow steps.

She shook her head, brow furrowed in something close to worry. Onyx wasn’t usually expressive, so when she was Mira took it seriously.

“ What state was she in?” They’d already asked this, after Onyx had returned alone, and she’d only gone quiet and thoughtful.

She paused in much the same way now, but whispered back to Mira, “ not well,” before they entered the astronomy room.

Moll began addressing them before she could continue the questioning. Speaking about stars and moons and planets and how the gravitational pull of it all was scientifically magical. It was gearing up to an interesting class, even if they were all a little too sleepy to learn, until they realized that while they’d been discussing Mars and Venus’ romance they sky had become overcast.

“ Pity. Another night, I suppose.” Moll said immediately.

“ We’re just leaving?” Nora asked, disappointed and perplexed.

“ Nothing can be done.” Moll shrugged, heading for the stairs.

It wasn’t true though, as any Tilson student knew. It was easy to conjure star maps, they could cast illusions on the sky – or at least Moll could – and they could discuss from there.

“ Guess Chel was right in not showing up.” Grumbled Rina under her breath, but Moll paused and turned.

“ Chelsea isn’t present?” Her eyes quickly darted over the five attending students. “ Why didn’t any of you say anything?”

“ Why didn’t you notice?” Mira said to herself, to which Liam gave her a sharp warning glance. Moll’s eye drifted over her momentarily, and Mira felt a thrill of anxiety course through her at the idea of Moll calling her out, but she simply turned to Onyx.

“ Do you know where she is?” She asked in a voice that wasn’t sharp, but for Moll it might have qualified as.

Onyx shook her head.

“ Does anyone know where she is?” Moll repeated, louder.

They all shook their heads no.

“ Next time one of you goes missing in the night I would appreciate it if you would inform me immediately.” Moll said, eyes far off and mysterious light flickering in them. “ Return to the clearing, all of you.”

It was the most near to a command any of them had ever heard from her, and they immediately obeyed.  Moll branched off from them at the bottom of the staircase without explanation, although likely in search of Dumbledore or another Professor, or simply following a hunch as to where Chel had disappeared to.

“ She seemed uncharacteristically worried…” Nora said softly as they exited the castle.

“ Oh whatever, Chel’s obviously just being dramatic. ” Rina said rolling her eyes. “ It’s not like she can’t handle herself, you saw what she did to my eye!”

“ The forest has a lot of very dangerous stuff in it.” Nora replied, sounding worried herself.

“ Tilson’s in the middle of an even wackier one!” Rina cried.

“ Wacky in different ways.” Mira knew this well, as she’d spent a lot of time venturing through both of them. She’d never been afraid of the Tilson woods at night, couldn’t say the same about the forbidden forest.

“ She’s probably just sulking in her tent.” Rina huffed.

“ You two need to make some sort of amends.” Onyx said with a firmness that made it feel like the law.

“ Again, did you see what she did to my eye?” Rina mumbled softly, more to herself. She looked away and bit her lip when Onyx raised an eyebrow at her. “ I will if she gives me the chance.” She admitted quietly.

They returned to the clearing, and although Mira and Liam did briefly discuss if they should disobey Moll and search of Chel, they opted to be rule followers for the evening. It was late and more than likely they’d only get themselves lost and in worse trouble.

* * *

The next morning the temperature barrier had been dissolved. Mira woke up abominably early, shivering and blue lipped. Piling on all her warmest clothing she exited the tent to find the clearing covered in a fresh dusting of snow and Onyx in front of the fire pit conjuring an enormous sizzling flame.

Wrapping her arms around herself, shoulders clenched up to her ears, Mira approached. She didn’t get too close, as the fire was hot and sending out unpredictable sprays of sparks.

“ Any idea what’s going on?” Mira asked through a cracked and dry morning voice, extrapolated by the unfortunate weather conditions.

“ Moll found Chel.” Onyx said, repeating a complicated hand motion before the fire settled, still giant but not chaotically flinging itself outside of the confines of the pit.

“ Oh.” Mira said. Her mind always took a little while to wake up, she’d forgotten about Chel entirely.

“ They’re in the hospital wing.” Onyx said emotionlessly, stepping back from her artful work. The warmth radiated into Mira’s soul.

“ Shit, what happened?”

“ Don’t know.” Onyx said, gazing into the flames.

They both stood, silently warming themselves until the rest of the students, also shivering, joined them.

“ Should we go visit?” Nora asked anxiously, scooting closer to the fire and pulling her blanket tight around herself.

“ She said not to.” Onyx replied.

“ You saw Chel then?” Liam asked sleepily.

Onyx shook her head, “ she sent a patronus. We should wait until she gets back.”

So they did, all of them feeling cold and miserable and not like talking. Mira felt guilty, like she could have stopped this if she and Liam had responded more quickly to Rina’s yell.

She glanced over at Liam, “ you never finished telling me.”

“ What?” He said groggily, still not awake.

“ Bathtub.”

“ Oh fuck.” Liam said, colouring, but he didn’t seem shocked. He’d probably been up all night thinking about it, Mira mused.

Just as she was about to ask further questions Moll reappeared looking exhausted and frazzled, her hair blown about and bags under her eyes.

“ Chelsea will be out of class for a few days.” She said absently.

“ Is she alright?” Rina asked. Looking at her now Mira noticed that she seemed the most pale and exhausted out of all of them.

“ Yes. She will be alright.”

“ Can we visit?” Rina asked eagerly, to everyone but Onyx’s surprise.

Moll stared at her expressionlessly for a moment before, “ I’d give it a day.”

* * *

Liam was determined to skip a day of meeting Cedric in the library. How could he rightly face the boy after what had happened yesterday? He had basically admitted he wanted to fuck him, and couldn’t decide if it made it worse or better that he’d done that whilst in a steaming bathtub together. Mira was convinced that it was an _excellent_ thing, had said so after toppling over in unapologetic laughter. At least someone was overjoyed.

Liam was not experiencing joy. He was more so experiencing a rather intense, full body ringing of anxiety, that would make him jump at the slightest sound or movement. Of course he was also anxious about Chel’s situation, nobody had bothered to tell them anything apart from “ she’ll be fine, visit tomorrow.” It was all very troubling, and yet, he could barely consider it for even a minute before his mind went back to a certain bathroom and certain flashes of flesh and steam, floral and masculine scents intermingling in perfect harmony… and then back to Chel and how much he _wasn’t_ think about her, and feeling utterly guilty before… pool sized bathtubs, Quidditch players… duelling club…. Wednesday.

_He was not going to the library_.

For his own health, he couldn’t.

What if Cedric felt weird and didn’t show up? If Liam showed up then he’d know that Cedric had decided not to show up, whereas if he didn’t go he could live in ignorance, and a small part of him could go on pretending that everything was fine. _But_ , and he hated himself for this but, what if it went the other way around? What if Cedric did show up, and he didn’t, and then Cedric thought Liam was being even more weird? Or he went back to thinking he hated him?

Cedric had admitted once, staring fixedly down at the book he was studying, that he was worried he had done something to dismantle their friendship. It was a week into them meeting in the library, and up until that moment they’d done an excellent job of avoiding the whole “ you’re gay but took my girlfriend’s best friend to the dance without telling her” thing.

“ I was um… I was afraid you didn’t want to do this.” He rubbed the back of his neck, a subdued but sheepish look on his face. Liam loved Cedric like this, a little uneasy but still saying what he felt. His own heart squeezed.

“ What?” Liam asked, a little too breathlessly. They’d mentioned the ball for the first time, an innocent comment about Moll and Snape being the weirdest power couple in history.

“ Be my friend.” He looked over at him then, eyes only snagging on each other’s for a moment before Cedric was fixed on dry pages again, “I’m sure Mira told you.”

“ That you disturbed her peaceful lunch to complain about me being a little bitch giving you the cold shoulder?” Liam joked, trying to make it so Cedric could relax.

“ Yeah.” Cedric shrugged, betraying a little more sadness than Liam would have anticipated.

“ I’m sorry about that.” He said softly.

“ Why did you…” Cedric began, trailing off and raising an eyebrow inquiringly. Liam knew the rest of the sentence without him saying it.

“ Hummm…” He wasn’t sure if he was ready for this conversation.

“ Sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Cedric shook his head and looked away.

“ No, it’s okay.” He didn’t know how much he could tell Cedric. He wanted to tell the truth, but he settled for half of it, “ I um… I was worried that you’d be mad I hurt your friend.”

“ She’s not really my friend.” Cedric said, perhaps a little too quickly.

“ She’s your girlfriend’s friend.” Liam responded pointedly.

Cedric said nothing, only continued not making eye contact.

Liam took a breath, “ and I was afraid that me being… Uh, bent? Is that how you say it here?” It was easier to say things if he covered it in a joke.

“ Don’t be daft.”  

“ That’s not how you say it? What then, pouf? Fairy?”

“ Liam.” Cedric placed his hand on his shoulder and it felt it tingling down his entire arm. “ Don’t be daft.” It was Liam’s turn to fixedly not make eye contact, biting his lip he turned his face away. He felt himself welling with emotion, more so in response to Cedric’s tone and action than the actual sentiment. So much for joking it off.

“ Marietta is over it, so you know.” Cedric added, moving his hand from Liam’s shoulder. Despite this, he continued to feel the warmth of the touch.

“ Yeah?” He said softly, though truth be told he hadn’t much thought of Marietta.

“ Yes. Unfortunately that means she and Cho are trying to set you up with Markus Bletchley.” Cedric rolled his eyes.

Liam softly laughed, “ not sure who that is.”

“ For the best. I put a stop to it anyhow.” Cedric shrugged, sitting more upright and picking up his quill.

“ Oh really?” Liam raised an eyebrow suggestively.

Cedric coloured but quickly recovered, “ he’s a right git, I could never be seen with you again.” Cedric said in affected haughtiness.  “ But I suppose if you were interested I could--”

“ I’m not.” Liam cut him off.

Was that the hint of a smile on Cedric’s face?

Liam had thought about it all evening. He knew their conversations often bordered on flirting, but that was just playful bromance banter… Nothing to indicate actual romantic feelings. But near jealousy in Liam being with someone else? Being a little smug when Liam expressed zero interest? That was edging onto actual interest, and had he not left only minutes later to go snog Cho in some secluded corner, he would have let himself ponder what that could mean.

 But Cedric did leave to snog Cho, and Liam, who was undeniably infatuated with the man, did not express any outward regret. He made a lewd joke that Cedric shoved him for and pretended that the physical contact didn’t send his mind reeling. Held himself back from grabbing Cedric’s wrist and pulling him with him as he stumbled to the floor, and sat for several minutes in the library after Cedric had left to clear his mind of all invading lecherous thoughts.

He said to himself _be good_ knowing full well that to really _be good_ he’d have to stop spending so much solo time with his unattainable crush. There was pleasure in the pain. Somehow that overwhelmed his logical senses, and somehow he always found himself back in the library, sitting a little closer to Cedric than he probably should have and paying too much attention to stupid things - the back of his neck, how he clutched his quill so lightly, the accidental brushing of their knees – and near no attention to the school work he claimed he was there to do.

Now that he’d seen him naked…

Well,

He couldn’t even pretend to be good anymore.

_So definitely taking a night off from the library._ If only for need of the space to breathe. _And to figure out what happened this Chel, of course!_

“ Mira, I need you to promise me you _will not_ let me go tonight.” He said, walking down the corridor. They’d just been to the dungeon, where supposedly Snape was going to discuss his potion stock with them, only for him to be very surprised and even more displeased when they informed them of what Moll had said. They’d promptly been sent away.

Mira yawned, “ kay, sure.”

“ Are you listening to me? This is very important.” Liam stated, bunching up his shirt sleeves in his fists. The bell that signalled the end of morning class and the beginning of lunch went off.

“ Yeah, gotcha.” Mira mumbled, barely audible over the crush of students now exiting class.

“ Take me serious!” Liam said, slightly over loud.

“ I am. Just tired from last night, we can both call it in early tonight.” She blinked her eyes shut exaggeratedly, seeming genuinely exhausted.

“ Right. Good,” but Liam wasn’t quite feeling so exhausted.

Just then a friendly arm was tossed around his shoulder and he found himself being matched stride for stride by the very man he was trying to avoid.

“ Liam mate, gonna need your help to decipher this old text tonight, you free?” Cedric had his signature champion smile and _fuck_ did he smell good.

“ Yes. Yes I am absolutely free!” Liam said with zero hesitation.

Mira rolled her eyes and didn’t even attempt to intervene.

* * *

She was too preoccupied to focus at first. Mira spent a good deal of time pacing back and forth in the greenhouse wondering what the fuck had happened with Chel. After Liam had gone off in a daze to follow his hopeless lover boy she’d tried to visit her in the hospital wing but Madame Pomfrey had been very displeased to see her, was almost accusatory that this was Mira’s fault. She didn’t directly mention the lacquers that Mira had given to Chel to facilitate her first stay in the hospital wing, but it was somehow present in her tone.

“ I just want to know she’d okay!” Mira had cried.

“ She is _fine_ and certainly does not need troublesome young women disturbing much needed rest. Off with you!” And she’d been shooed away. Rina had actually tried to break in, and wailed horrifically when she was successfully deterred.

The entire day Rina had been lost to the throes of anxiety, seeming almost shaky and near teary-eyed. She never said it but it was obvious she was feeling incredibly guilty.

“ You know this isn’t you fault.” Mira had stated to her at lunch.

“ What?” Rina had jumped, too deep in thought to really hear anything.

“ Chel’s actions were her own. She _hit_ you, Rina. Don’t blame yourself.” And Mira had tried to give her a comforting pat on the back but Rina was so far gone inside her own fantasy world of self-judgement that she didn’t notice.

Moll avoided them all day, only sending Liam and Mira on a fool’s errand to peruse Professor Snape’s potion stock. Mira had had her doubts about it before they even arrived, but when they got to the classroom it became exceedingly clear Moll hadn’t solidified anything.

Snape had been in the middle of scolding no other than Harry Potter when Mira and Liam loomed in the doorway.

“ Miss Zellick, Mister Tam, may I ask why you are disturbing my lecture? My students are hopeless and really cannot afford to be distracted.” He drawled in a bored, affected tone.

“ Uhh… Didn’t Moll tell you?” Liam asked innocently.

Harry, Ron and Hermione all smiled at Mira, which Snape noticed and it seemed to turn his bored tone into a sour one.

“ Tell me what?” He sneered.

“ We’re supposed to check out your potion store?” Liam said, covering up his fear of the man fairly well, but Mira still noticed.

“ I’m afraid I have been informed of no such plot and suggest you get out of my sight.” Snape said, before flicking his hand and having the door slam shut in their faces.

“  Somehow I am not surprised by this.” Mira had stated, rubbing her nose, which had caught some of the impact form the door. Liam had only frowned.

It had been a rather horrible day altogether. Moll re-erected the temperature barrier, but it was spotty, letting in the occasional gust of February air, and a very gigantic tree had fallen in the pathway through the forest to the castle. It was so large none of them could figure out how to move it, despite Onyx and Nora attempting several spells. Moll was entirely distracted when someone mentioned it to her and did nothing about it. The best they had done was magically install steps so they could easily climb over it.

To top it off, because of the deterioration of the temperature barrier, the greenhouses had been effected. They were unable to maintain the usual level of heat with cold gusts hitting them, and Onyx and Mira’s was a particularly tropical environment and not appreciative of any cold. Nothing was irreparably damaged but they had to consistently cast warming spells to prevent things from becoming so. Mira volunteered to stay in there, seeing as she had other work to attend to in the vicinity (her potion, nearing completion).

To try to calm her racing mind she’d picked up the book Liam had taken out for her from the library. At first she’d only been able to read a line or two but soon she’d become absorbed and was near finished. It turned out to be more relevant to her than even Liam had anticipated.

Shockingly, it depicted the stories of many witches that exhibited the same kind of magic as Mira was known to. More shockingly, it didn’t do so in a negative light. As she read she felt herself becoming increasingly enraptured, emotions stirring within her. She wasn’t the only person to rile up the enchanted creatures of the night. She wasn’t the only person who’s magic didn’t function through a logical, practised root. And a single question;

_why had no one told her she wasn’t alone?_

“ What’s wrong?” Onyx asked, startling her out of her reading frenzy.

Mira’s head snapped up. She’d been so absorbed in her reading she hadn’t noticed anyone coming in, or that her own expression was lost in layers of emotion. How long had she been sitting there?

“ Um, nothing.” She shook her head, closing the book and setting it down on the work table. She went back to observing her potion, though her mind was still very much within the pages of the book.

Onyx took the ladle out of her hand, “ careful.” She said softly, correcting the stir pattern.

She’d almost just destroyed a month and a half of work with a distracted stir in the wrong direction. She took a deep breath, lifting her hands to her head and exhaling loudly.

“ Fuck,” she stated, “ sorry.”

Onyx just looked at her like she was stupid and she wanted to apologize again but realized that was ridiculous and unnecessary.

“ Maybe you shouldn’t be reading,” Onyx peered at the cover of the book, “ _Mental Vigour: Guide to Being a Freak Witch_ while you’re working on this.”

“ Yeah.” Mira nodded, “ stupid idea.”

“ Something’s bothering you.” Onyx mused.

“ Tired.” Mira mumbled, shifting uncomfortably.

“ And something more?” Onyx smiled amusedly

Mira sighed. “ I don’t understand why no one told me about this stuff.” She motioned towards the book.

“ About your uncanny ability to commune within the dreaming realm being not so lonely a practise?” Onyx filled in.

Mira made a face at the wording but nodded.

“ I’m sure Moll had her reasoning.” Onyx replied, finishing up the final stir. The potion was developing a glistening quality to it.

Mira sighed and looked down at the ground.

Onyx set down the ladle, “ don’t touch this again until tomorrow. You should get some sleep.”

There was a moment of silence between them in which Mira could feel the other girl’s gaze on her but did not feel the will to meet it. She waited for Onyx to leave.

“ I didn’t mean to imply Moll’s reasoning was correct.”

Mira looked up at her, breath getting a little lost in her throat.

Their eyes met for a moment before Onyx looked away, folded her hands behind her back and began speaking in even measure, “ I grew up in the temperate rainforest of the west coast, in the only remaining ancient witch tribe for over two thousand kilometers. Because of our seclusion the community was very close, very focused. When I came to Tilson… It was a loneliness.”

“ I’m not--”

Onyx turned back to look at her, cutting her off, “ I couldn’t admit it for a long time. I still can’t sometimes.” She smiled softly. “ It feels like such a failure when your perspective doesn’t align with those around you.”

“ You seem pretty far from a failure to me.” Mira scoffed.

“ I’m not one. And neither are you.” Onyx took her hand, “ you are unique, Mira. I don’t mean it as a compliment or as an insult, just a fact.”

“ Right,” Mira replied, unsure how to interpret that, staring at the hand now tracing circles on her own.

When she looked back up Onyx gave her a knowing smile but didn’t say anything more. Mira wanted her to keep talking, just to have her close, but when she felt she wasn’t going to she realized she’d have to say something to get her to stay.

“ I don’t… I just feel like this all the time. It’s better now, that I have Liam and uhhh you, I guess, um…” She blushed and looked away, “ just…I feel fucking angry.”

Onyx nodded at her to continue, squeezing her hand. Mira took a breath, feeling steam billow inside her.

“ Moll must know that other people have the same kind of magic as I do, and she never told me, and I spent all this time feeling like an alien shithead, when I could have just been like…” Her emotion depleted when she couldn’t find the right words, “I don’t know. It’s new, these ideas, I haven’t sorted through how I feel yet.”

“ You’re not an alien shithead.” Onyx said softly.

Mira snorted, “ not a sentence I ever thought I’d hear you say.”

Onyx just smiled at her.

Feeling the warmth from Onyx’s hand radiate through her, their closeness, the intimacy of sharing what she really thought with someone, for a second it didn’t seem crazy for Mira to lean in.

So she did, and when Onyx didn’t back away, she closed the distance between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> stay tuned for some real wild stuff in the next chapter :~) my thanks for reading


	24. The Second Task

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot going on here! Many threads to be further wound in upcoming chapter my friends!

Onyx pulled away first.

Mira, eyes closed, heart racing, leaned forward to chase her lips but, coming back to herself, backed away, turned her body, blushed.

“ Sorry,” she said breathlessly, looking at the floor.

Onyx placed a hand on her shoulder, kissed her temple and whispered, “ don’t be.”

* * *

Liam knew that Cedric’s unavailability made him more attractive to him. Liam knew this was probably unhealthy, and probably had something to do with his painful experience with Soren before he’d left to witness this stupid tournament. Fumbling behind the greenhouse or the broom shed at Tilson on cool nights had been full of awkward laughter and sweetness. There had been discomfort, and shyness too, and Liam had always held back from going fully jelly like he longed to, and felt that maybe Soren was also holding back, and maybe, in time, through learning about each other, they’d get to the melting butter state he dreamed of. Liam liked to be made to feel weak, and he liked making someone else weak. But Soren hadn’t wanted to be made weak, hadn’t really wanted to make Liam weak either. In hindsight, it just seemed like he wanted something to do.

That’s how Liam figured he had started pining over Cedric. He was there, he was lovely, he was unavailable, and he was something to distract him from the loneliness of being away from home. But the ache that pining left was starting to burn into him a little more than was comfortable. He loved how confident Cedric could be one moment, and how flustered and bumbling the next. And he loved the husky but floral scent of him, he could pick out over the crowd. He loved how kind he was to everyone, but at the same time amused, like there was some sort of lingering joke in the air only he was in on. Liam wanted to be in on it.

Watching Cedric be with Cho, or more often, simply catch her eye from across the great hall and smiling, was something Liam couldn’t avoid noticing, because he was always noticing Cedric, and everyone who noticed him and everyone he noticed.

The ache burned a little deeper.

Mira, who had been in a distracted daydream all day, noticed.

“ Liam.”

“ Huh?” He said, not looking away from Cedric and Cho who were talking, heads bent together in a secret impenetrable world, opposite him at the ravenclaw again.

“ Seriously, stop.” She said through a mouth full of food.

“ What?”

“ You gotta set yourself some boundaries.” That got his attention.

“ Excuse me?” Pretending not to know what she meant, though they both knew he did.

“ Don’t be a dumbass.” She rolled her eyes, shoving more food into her mouth.

She was right, and he knew it, had known it all along. He stole another glance at Cedric, to find that he was staring back at him. Liam looked down at his plate immediately.

She was right. He was going to have to back off, for real this time.

* * *

Liam’s swift aversion from his gaze – what was the look he was focusing on his plate now? a remorseful one, something palpably depressed? – sent an immediate damper through Cedric. Seconds ago he and Cho had just been joking about the second task, which he had finally figured out something for, and he’d been thinking about asking Liam to help him practice the bubble charm.

Why did he feel like that wasn’t an option anymore?

Why did that make his lungs feel like they were caving in from the void of loss?

* * *

They were allowed to visit Chel, though to be honest none of them really wanted to. Except for, strangely Rina, who seemed desperate.

It wasn’t that the others didn’t care that she was alright, it was more the anticipation of the insults and bad temper they were surely to deal with. Naturally, it was much more horrifying when none of the predicted foulness arose.

Chel was pale, almost green, propped up against the pillows and immobile except for the shallowest breaths and occasional flutter of an eyelid. She seemed barely conscious.

When she opened her lips to speak it was a dry croak, and clearly painful, so she didn’t do it more than to say “I’m fine” which was very evidently a lie. Rina was all teary eyed and nervous, not knowing what to do since they’d been on such bad terms but obviously still deeply caring for her friend.

When the rest of them realized that Chel probably just needed to go back to sleep and prepared to leave Rina asked softly “ will you be upset if I just sit here quietly?”

Chel gave the slightest nod “no” and Rina immediately scooted a chair directly beside her. As the other four departed they heard Rina whisper, “ can I hold your hand?” When Mira peered over her shoulder she saw Chel give the slightest nod, “yes.”

They were deathly quiet as they left the castle, all of them deeply disturbed by the sight of their friend. The only information they had been told was that she was found in the forbidden forest, dangerously far away from their clearing. Although considering the rest of Hogwarts attitude towards it, Mira figured she could have been one step out of the boundaries and that would be considered “perilous”.

Mira didn’t say it out loud, but she could sense from Chel that whatever had done whatever it was to her, was not a creature of the forest. There were no obvious signs of physical wounds, which with many creatures would be how they manifested their power, but deeper than that, at a level Mira was perhaps more adept at sensing than most, the darkness that still clung to Chel was wizard-made.

When they got back to the clearing she went to Moll without so much as a word to the others.

She didn’t let herself be known, she marched right in.

“ Miranda,” said Moll in an unamused voice without looking up from the paper she was reading, “ what do I owe the pleasure?”

“ What happened to Chel?” Mira demanded, ignoring Moll’s bored tone.

Moll sighed and looked up at her, as if this conversation was utterly tiresome for her. “ She went wondering about in the forest at night, as you’ve all been informed multiple times, a dangerous course of action to follow.”

“ It was a wizard who did that to her, not the forest.” Mira stated, anger twisting inside of her. She was still very much pissed at Moll for keeping her in the dark about her “freak witch” abilities not being so intensely unusual.

Moll raised an eyebrow, “ Oh? Do you know something that we don’t? The perspective of an underage witch with limited magical ability was certainly lacking from the senior staff who performed the investigation, please do enlighten me.”

Mira faltered. It was unlike Moll to be so… rude. Evasive, secretive, mysterious, yes, but blatantly dismissive and condescending?

“ Don’t you have a potion to brew?” Moll said, lazily gazing back down at her work.

Mira left without another word, fits balled up. She’d never felt so inclined to punch something in all her life.

Onyx, Nora and Liam were all waiting when she emerged.

“ What’s up?” Liam asked gingerly.

Mira turned to glare at Moll’s tent, wondering if the old witch would be able to hear her. She whipped around again, suddenly not caring.

“ She’s not saying _anything._ ” Mira hissed, still quiet despite her apathy.

“ About?” Liam asked, although she was sure he knew.

“ It was a wizard, I’m positive it was a person who did that to Chel.”

Onyx nodded, “ I sensed that as well.”

“ I’m not insane!” Mira said to Liam, who’d been giving her a dubious look. He softened and nodded, biting his lip in thought.

“ Why would she lie to us?” Nora asked genuinely, her expression telling Mira that she also believed something strange was going on.

“ I don’t fucking know!” Mira huffed and crossed her arms, “ I’ve fucking had it with Moll.”

Onyx squeezed her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic look. It did make her feel better, knowing she was supported.

* * *

The next morning Chel was sent to St. Mungo’s.

Moll was not the one to inform them of this development, it was Rina. She came back from the castle, red eyes and a little snotty.

“ She’s gone.” She said, sniffling.

“ What?” Liam asked, pale faced and clearly thinking that Rina was implying Chel had died.

“ They took her to some fancy magical healing hospital place, I don’t know.” She shook her head, Liam deflated in relief. Though the news wasn’t exactly _good._

“ Why?” Asked Nora, suspiciously.

Rina only shrugged.

“ They didn’t tell you anything?” Mira asked, though at this point she was far from surprised.

“ They said something like…” she thought a moment, then began again in an affected professional voice, “ her accident extrapolated a formerly hidden condition.”

Onyx and Mira exchanged a look.

“ What did Moll say?” Mira asked.

Rina shrugged again, “ nothing. She was the one who shooed me out.”

* * *

In the chaos of losing faith in Moll’s ability to mentor, Chel’s inexplicable “illness”, kissing Onyx and not getting spelled into another dimension for it, her sister taking an unusually long time to reply to her last letter, and Liam being a total mope about Cedric (he was actually making a serious attempt at distance, had deprived himself of the library for two entire days!), it slipped Mira’s mind that the second task was quickly running to greet her.

Onyx was there when she stoppered the potion, in a tiny clear vial. It swirled pearly blue and seemed to hum, but only if you weren’t trying to listen for it.

Her and Onyx hadn’t kissed again, hadn’t even spoken of it. But there was something in the air that was different between them. Somehow calmer and more charged at once. Onyx was liberal in little touches she gave to Mira; brushing hair out of her face, rubbing away a smudge of greenhouse dirt she’d accidentally gotten on her chin, causal touch on her arm while they spoke.

It felt stupidly good.

As much as she wanted to kiss her again, this felt right. She was nervous about casually touching though. She’d revered her too long, and no motion ever felt truly, genuinely, casual for Mira, especially if it was something she wanted. However, she leaned into every touch she received. Sometimes, if Onyx wasn’t looking anymore, she’d close her eyes and hone into the singing feeling the contact left in her body.

“ Do you feel ready?” Onyx asked her, once they’d finished with the potion and began putting the no longer needed utensils away.

Mira shrugged, “ I don’t know if this will work.”

“ It will.” Onyx said simply, brushing Mira’s wrist with her fingers as she reached for an empty beaker.

“ With Chel… being in whatever state she is, it feels so stupid to be part of this tournament. What the fuck does it matter?” Mira said honestly.

“ It doesn’t matter as a whole, but how you handle it does. For yourself.” Onyx said with what Mira figured was too much wisdom for someone her age to possess.

* * *

Mira still hadn’t figured out what the hell they had taken from her for the task. None of her possessions seemed to be missing, let alone anything she valued. Perhaps it was all a misleading trick, she contemplated, wondering if perhaps a secondary task was waiting at the bottom of the lake.

She avoided everyone all morning, preferring to pace back and forth in the solitude of her tent. Several times she took the potion out of her pocket and stared at it. She’d never really deciphered what exactly it was going to do to her. And what if she’d gotten something wrong without noticing?

Today could really be the day she died. Or at least made a fool out of herself. Not that that was new.

The anxiety wasn’t quite so ringing as it had been before the dragon, but it was still certainly very much alive.

Moll stopped in to wish her luck, acting as if she hadn’t been dismissing every single one of their classes all week, been extremely evasive in anyone’s questions about Chel to the point of being rude, or in general been a poor chaperone. This infuriated Mira.

Outwardly, she pretended it was fine.

“ Yes, I’m ready.” She’d said, without emotion. That had been good enough for Moll, she disappeared to Circe knows where after, not to be seen again until she was seated at the judges table.

* * *

Before they all got shoved into a freezing lake, Bagman and Crouch’s replacement, Percy Weasley – related to Fred, George and Ron? Mira wondered, but he exhibited a very different sort of energy – gave them a speech that sounded like all the speeches they’d heard up until then. Mira didn’t pay attention.

When she got to the edge of the lake she unstopped the potion and downed it in a single go. It tasted strangely unremarkable. As if all she’d done was add some glitter to regular water. Nothing within her changed.

They got the go ahead, clock officially counting down, Fleur, Cedric and Krum all disappearing under the water with a graceful ripple while Harry and Mira stood knee deep and shivering. They exchanged glances. At least she wasn’t the only idiot.

She was about to say something to him when she noticed his breathing go funny. And was he kind of green? She didn’t have much time to inspect, he was gone a second later.

Great. She was the only idiot.

She stood still, waiting for something to happen to her. She didn’t know what to expect. Maybe she needed to get under the water in order to feel the effects?

But it was just so fucking cold.

Until it wasn’t.

Until she felt her body dissolve and suddenly she was everywhere at once. She could feel the lake inside her, she could feel herself part of the lake, and every individual organism living inside the frigid waters. She could feel it pulsing with life, every fluid movement, every swirl, every air bubble wiggling its way up to the surface, or getting caught in the swaying strands of a reed. _What the fuck?_

She tried to place herself, tried to feel her physical body, but it was just _gone._ If she had been in her normal mind she would have panicked. But her normal mind didn’t exist anymore. Intuitively she understood she had de-molecularized, becoming only hydrogen and oxygen and the magic of water’s soul.

She fluttered, she rippled, she flowed as an entire current. Weak at first, then playful. Something about this state was so natural, so simple, she forget the task. Any sense of time had slipped away with the release of her human form, but the more she spent as water the more aware she became of what was inside it.

First an infinitely long list of bacteria, _Leptospira, cronobacter sakazakii, leclersia_ , she knew each individual one on a personal level. Then the plants, _fontinalus antipyrectia, myriophylum spicatum, ranunculus aquatilus_ , she knew them personally too. The creatures, non-magical and otherwise, _squalius cephalus_ , hinkycap, grindylow, giant squid, merpeople.

She was vaguely aware of something that shouldn’t be there too, but didn’t register it on a more conscious level until she felt a magic spark flickering. Suddenly her entire being was barrelling towards the disturbance. _Who was hurting her grinylows?_

She more felt than saw a beautiful human form twisting in the towering weeds, sending a crescendo of bubbling tendrils to swirl hypothetically around gracefully kicking limbs. It was a mesmerizing dance, and Mira was part of it, could feel it all. Flashes of flowing silver stark against deep blues and greens with her dear darting grindylows gleaming through and the occasional champagne spark shooting from a wand.

_Fleur._

The internal instinct, the one built in her new destructed DNA, told her above all protect this lake and its inhabitants. She had forgotten she knew the trespassers as well. She had assumed all the distress she felt was that of the water creatures, but now she knew it also belonged to Fleur, and that Fleur, her beautiful silvery form, was getting sucked deeper into depths she might not return from.

Before she could make any decision, there was a flash of light and Fleur was pulled by an unseen force up and away from her, from the lake.

Mira didn’t think about it. When the scene was out of her sight, out of the lake, it was out of her watery consciousness. Now her attention was being pulled towards other things that shouldn’t be there. Kicking feet, paddling hands, _a fucking shark? In fresh water?_

She flowed through it all, without anyone but the lake knowing she was there, without forming any thoughts as to why, why any of it.

It all felt so familiar, like home and belonging, until something caught her up short.

A trespasser. That also exhibited these qualities.

Memory began to boil in Mira’s not-really-a-mind.

_Sister._

_Anya._

It was less than a second for this connection to overwhelm any and all of her potion manufactured instincts.

Mira’s anger swelled, very much like a wave before it rises to break the surface. She was bubbling forward, surging past underwater structures, sweetly singing merpeople, swiping up her sister easily, without needing to think about how, blasting the other four floating bodies in her force, but they didn’t break free, just jolted violently. The majority of her force hit it’s mark, Anya’s ties, and she was loose, and hurtling in the embrace of the lake itself, across the entirety of it, to the surface.

From the shore people could see a large wave beginning to form, starting as a ripple and then becoming larger and larger, faster and faster. It erupted onto the beach, not slowing until overtaking and drenching the judges table.

It was so fast, no one knew exactly what had happened. But the water began to recede and there was a small twelve year old girl lying cold on the rocky shore, and Mira, seeming to be half melting, flowing as water, half girl formed, throwing herself, and many gurgling insults, at the judges. The majority of her physical force landing on Percy Weasley, her closest target, who was now drenched, dripping, and too shocked to defend himself.

With a final splattering, and an icy glare, Mira straightened herself up, water coming with her, and she became whole again. “ How could you put a twelve year old muggle in this situation?” The first clear sentence she’d uttered. And then she was running back down the beach, picking up her sister, who Liam was already kneeling beside. Anya was just waking.

“ Mi-Mira?” Her sister choked out water.

“ Yes, Anya, I’m here. And I won’t let any of those stupid old wizards touch you.”

“ They said I was going to sleep. For the tournament? Did you win?” Anya was perking up quickly, eyes darting around excitedly on the unfamiliar location.

“ I don’t know. I don’t care. This is fucking ridiculous.” She was looking at Liam now, “ how could they do this? How could they dare put her life in such a position for such a stupid _school_ competition? What the FUCK IS WRONG--”

Mira was so distracted by her anger she didn’t notice her sister’s shivering and blue lips until Onyx tossed a blanket at her, cutting off her rant.

Mira’s breath caught a second, awareness dawning on her, before she furiously wrapped her sister in the blanket, so tight she was hardly able to move, and then yanked her up to her feet.

“ Are you okay, Anya? What did they do to you? How did they even get hold of you? And mum and dad? How the hell did they allow this? Are they even Here?” And her head was tearing around, searching for her parents. All she could make out was a massive swirl of a crowd.

“ Mira, Mira, I think you need to calm down…” Liam was patting her shoulder lightly, scanning over the crowd that was slowly moving in and inspecting them with great interest. Mira felt like a thunderstorm, so furious and disoriented in her returned human form she could hardly maintain focus. Her anger was her only tether to human reality, and she gripped it tightly.

Madame Pomfrey appeared, cautiously, with her wand out. Mira ripped her sister to stand behind her, glaring.

“ I will not let any of _you_ touch her again.”

“ Yes, well she very may well get hypothermia if someone doesn’t dry her off.”

“ It’s okay, Mira!” Piped Anya, excited by Pomfrey’s outdrawn wand.

“ Yes, I think it would be best to let Anya get dried off now…” Liam was gently prying Miranda’s hand off of her sister. She was about to punch Liam in reaction when Onyx rested a hand, light and reassuring on her arm.

“ It’s okay, Mira. It’s okay.” Onyx’s hand instantly began to warm Mira, sending shivers of heat through her body. _Her body._ Her body, she had a body again. She hadn’t noticed she could feel the cold with it. Not until Onyx’s magical warmth worked its way into her being.

“ I just… I just…” And Mira felt like she was going to cry. Onyx shushed her, not unkindly, and rested her forehead again Mira’s. She gulped the emotion back down her throat.

Cedric had just arrived back with Cho, thankfully drawing the attention away from Mira’s spectacle. If she hadn’t been so emotional she would have noticed the wistful look Liam was giving them.

When Onyx backed away, using her wand to spell Mira completely dry, she turned to nervously watch as Madame Pomfrey dried Anya, thankful that Liam was sticking close to her sister. The awareness of her actions was starting to dawn on her.

Had she actually just lost complete control? _Assaulted a judge? Been an entire fucking lake?_ Oh god. Oh god. Onyx noticed the turmoil, the return of human shame.

“ It’s okay. Everything is going to be fine.” Onyx was speaking in a hushed tone.

“ I know. I know… I was just soo…” And Mira was choking up. God, why the fuck was she so emotional? Of course they’d have safety measures to protect her sister, but what if something had happened? Magic wasn’t always reliable. What if something had happened? Were they going to fuck with her memory because of this? This was too fucking far. Her little sister! Who knew nothing of magic! Who was supposed to be safe across in the ocean in public school at this very moment!

Onyx brushed Mira’s now dry but still tangled hair out of her face, leaving her hand on her cheek. “ They went too far, but it’s all okay now. Everything worked out okay.” Mira’s breath hitched in her throat, and she wasn’t sure if it was looking into Onyx’s eyes, so close to her now, or her continued rage and embarrassment that made her react that way.

The moment was broken by Krum returning with a sopping wet and slightly annoyed looking Hermione.

* * *

Cedric was wrapped in a blanket, Cho by his side and smiling politely at the photographers and friends that approached to congratulated him as they waited for the scores. Marietta had excitedly run over to fill them in on the scene Mira had pulled.

“ She _attacked_ a judge! I think they’re going to disqualify her!” Marietta was saying to Cho, who was nodding along, still a little disoriented from the enchanted sleep. The girl then turned to Cedric, “ You should be in the first place, rightfully. Mira’s methods are so… freaky. Nothing against her but...” She continued to explain everything she had seen, which was hardly anything, as it had mostly taken place underwater.

Cedric was not paying attention. He was preoccupied with something of a different nature, something he didn’t want to think about, especially not know, but it wouldn’t recede.

His reaction to seeing Cho, lifelessly drifting in the water. Fear? Anger? No. At first he’d been confused. How were any of the four people floating there what was most dear to him? He quickly put it together that from the outside it probably looked like that person was Cho. And that had made him feel, what? He’d considered it as if it was logical, and then he’d felt happy, because he was going to be the second person to complete the task.

Detaching Cho from the line that anchored her to the bottom of the lake, and as he swam her limp body back to the surface, he’d begun to wonder about what was most dear to his competitors. He could tell that the young silver haired girl was related to Fleur, and he figured Harry must be here for one his friends. Krum? He’d taken Granger to the ball, hadn’t he? So Mira had been first, he’d realized, a little surprised. He wondered who Mira had taken. Liam?

And just as he was breaking the surface of the lake, and Cho was waking, coughing slightly but smiling warmly at him, it had dawned on him. If Liam had still been floating there when he’d arrived, he’d never have been able to choose between him and Cho. Or more honestly, he would have been able to choose, but his choice wouldn’t be what was intended for him. Now, standing on the beach and shivering despite the warming charms and blankets, the realization seemed to be hitting him over and over again, like waves hitting the shore.


	25. Waterworks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the aftermath of the second task

Mira was not being cooperative. After getting dried off from the task some feeble ministry wizard approached her –  guarding Anya like a dragon despite Anya jumping to engage with anything in the new magical environment – to send her sister back home.

Mira had blown up again, demanding to know if they were going to erase her mind, about why the hell they brought her all the way over here for a one hour competition just to send her immediately back, making a very big fuss about how unethical it was. The ministry official, not used to dealing with strong-headed teenage girls, backed down to hide behind Ludo Bagman’s robes, who was entirely not registering the severity of the situation, talking a very uninterested McGonagall’s ear off about a long-passed Quiddith match. Anya couldn’t calm her sister down, Liam couldn’t calm her down, and neither could Onyx. Mira fumed, hands crackling with magic. She knew what it felt like to lose control, but not to anger, never had she let anger take her over like this, and it certainly felt powerful, the antithesis to losing oneself to a dream.

While this was happening  Moll was under her own investigation, albeit an inefficient one. Percy Weasley, after drying himself off and making his own big fuss about being overpowered by a wave shaped teenage witch, had caught on to the whole aspect of Anya being a muggle.

“ Why would you presume it was acceptable to bring over a young muggle, Matron Moll?” He said, in his presumptuous way.

“ I was told to find who mattered most to her, and so I did.” Moll said, eyes a little sparkling as she watched Mira defend Anya from the weak ministry official, though she could admit to herself, sensing Mira’s turmoil – who couldn’t at this point? – that she had likely overstepped, and probably should have just sent Onyx or Liam down to the bottom of the lake instead of the young muggle. _Oh well, what’s life but for making mistakes?_ These were her conscious thoughts, and she tried to emotionally level with it but something still nagged.

“ This is not how things are done. The expense this has cost the Ministry, to bring that child all the way over here by special port key, and now we must oblivate her and send her back, is too immense for what it is worth. It would have been more suitable to have selected someone nearer, at the very least _magical--”_ and on and on Percy went, oblivious to how much he was enjoying getting to lord over someone so powerful in the name of his boss, Barty Crouch Sr., oblivious to how much Moll didn’t care. It wasn’t until Dumbledore stepped in that Percy backed off, though not without making a few more pointed comments about unprofessionalism.

“ And what shall we do about the girl?” Dumbledore asked Moll quietly when they were out of earshot of anyone else, uncommon concern at the edge of his eyes. Moll knew his asking was more along the lines of, why _did_ you think this would be a good idea? but he wasn’t the type to speak in such a way.

They were still on the stony beach, most of the students having dissipated to buzz about the task and celebrate in a warmer environment, only Ministry and Hogwarts staff remaining to clear away the evidence that anything had taken place there that day. Professor Sprout had somehow been the one to calm Mira down, and coaxed her, her sister, and the anxiously-waiting-to-see-what-the-hell-would-happen-next Tilson students, back to the castle.

Moll sighed, “ we’ll send her back as soon as possible.”

“ The Ministry will insist on erasing her memories.” Dumbledore said softly.

“ That won’t be happening.” Moll frowned.

“ Your students are having a difficult turn, Matron Moll.” And she knew it was true, with Chel away at St. Mungo’s they were already unsettled, with the misstep of bringing Anya here, tensions would only increase, and that Dumbledore was giving her a warning.

* * *

Unlike the rest of the students, Tilson was not celebrating.

Professor Sprout – the only adult to acknowledge the fault in subjecting Anya to the second task, and that being the only reason Mira allowed herself to simmer down and be led away from the beach – had guided them to her own personal quarters. The best way to describe the room was jolly, it was rich with colours, a roaring fire, beautiful art on the walls with magical vines and plants creeping over them and along the stacked bookcases. She fixed them all up, to Anya’s extreme delight, with pumpkin juice and other treats.

Mira was sulking on a chair in the corner, arms crossed and regarding the scene of her sister, mesmerized by the moving paintings, a plant that’s blooms sung melodies, and other magical artefacts, -and the rest of the Tilson students enjoying the comfortable room just as much - with a sour expression. She exuded negativity so profusely that nobody came near her, not even Liam, though they all cast her tentative glances, and she knew they would occasionally whisper something about her, increasing her irritation.

Professor Sprout was sitting at her desk, kindly answering all of Anya’s questions and being an amiable host, but all the while writing and reading letters that she sent and received through a glowing tube on the edge of her desk. Mira had no doubt this correspondence was about Anya, and deeply resented that she was not being included. Every time she heard the suction sound of something being magicked away or appeared, she sank deeper in her chair thinking _how fucking long until they deem to speak to us personally?_

Anya came over to her periodically, “ Mira, did you _know_ about _this_? Can you do stuff like _this?_ ” And she’d motion to come page in a book she’d randomly opened, some plant on the wall, some sparkling thing Professor Sprout had lying about. She tried her very best not to let her sourness get out at her sister, but she knew she was failing. Anya was purposefully trying to bring her out of her bad mood by showing her incredible things but she was still too furious, too on edge for whatever was to come next, to properly interact. Eventually her sister gave up, instead choosing to show the other students, who were in a much better headspace to wonder at things through the eyes of a child.

Professor Sprout was writing and receiving letters with increasing hurry and was in the middle of scrambling to finish one when Percy Weasley burst into the room without knocking, Ludo Bagman following at the edge of his robes. Percy looked about the room quizzically, eyes landing on Mira, then Anya.

“ There you are.” He said in a rather obnoxious voice.

Mira was standing in an instant, fists balled, and for the first time in her life, she had the instinct to draw her wand. She held back, for the time being.

“ Sorry to barge in like this,” Ludo was beginning to say in his usual chipper way, though he was out of breath, no doubt from scurrying after Percy.

“ We are on official business. We must take the child.”

“ Take the child?” Mira yelled, indignant, taking a step forward, but Percy only glanced at her, then back to Professor Sprout.

Onyx and Liam were standing now too, and inching protectively towards Anya. Mira, through her anger, felt a flush of gratitude for them.

“ It is highly improper to have a muggle child here, and the longer she is here the worse it is.” Percy continued.

“ It’s sort of your fault though, isn’t it?” Mira countered, thinking, not for the first time, that it was insanity that the ministry hadn’t been a part of the decision to bring her here in the first place.

Again Percy ignored her, “ so we must send her home immediately.”

Professor Sprout was standing, and for the first time any of the students had seen, not smiling kindly. “ You cannot simply whisk her away as if she were some sort of cursed object, Percy. This is a human person we are dealing with, and she’s been through quite enough for one day, I dare say.”

“ She won’t _remember_ any of it.” He said in exasperation, as if that solved the issue entirely.

Just as Mira was about to blow up again, and was giving in to the instinct to draw her wand, and Bagman was starting to interject, and Professor Sprout was rounding her desk to get closer, Professor Snape strode into the room. “ Weasley,” he drawled, and that single utterance of Percy’s last name was enough to change the entire mood of the room.

Percy turned, and ever so slightly palled at the sight of his old potions teachers, a split-second of losing his composure before standing his ground again, but it was enough for him to lose power.

“ On behalf of Headmaster Dumbledore and Matron Moll, I am to inform you that Hogwarts is capable of handling the situation.” He sounded incredibly bored when he spoke.

Percy spluttered, “ but, but, you haven’t done anything about it yet!”

“ There is no need to make a fuss, Weasley.” Snape went on in his snide way, “ it would be better if this were as discreet as possible, wouldn’t you agree?”

Percy was momentarily speechless.

“ Yes, yes! Couldn’t agree with you more, Professor!” Bagman piped up, once again rolling on his heels, “ what you say we head off then, Percy? No need to make things into a bigger deal than they are, I say.” And he clapped Percy on the shoulder, clearly wanting to just go home and have this nonsense out of his mind. 

Outnumbered, Percy had no choice but to follow Bagman out of the room, but not without saying, “ I will be informing Mr. Crouch all about this,” in a threatening tone, though it didn’t effect anyone.

There was a moment of tense silence in the room after they left, in which Mira was waiting for Snape to suddenly start in about oblivating her sister the same way as Percy was. Snape’s eyes passed over Mira, lingering and clearly thinking something unpleasant, before he turned to Sprout and asked for a private word.

After they had gone out the room, Mira turned back to her sister, standing partially hidden by Onyx and Liam, but she would still see she was upset. Mira was over to her in a second.

“ You okay?” Mira asked, placing her hands on her shoulders.

“ What do they mean I won’t remember anything?” Anya said, watching the door they’d gone out of with wide eyes.

“ Nothing. That won’t happen, don’t worry.” Mira tried to sooth.

Anya, to her surprise, shoved her off. “ I’m not stupid, Mira. You can tell me what’s going on, I’m not a little kid anymore.”

“ I know that.” Mira snapped back, but she realized she didn’t really know that. Since going away to Tilson she missed out on most of Anya’s childhood, and she hadn’t been there for the turn from happy child to pre-teen angst. “Look,” she started, having no idea what to say, “ you’re not supposed to be here.” Probably not the best thing she could have settled on.

Her sister’s eyes went stormy.

“ No shit.” Anya said back to her, there was a defiant quaver in her voice, a _that’s right I’m old enough to swear now_ edge.

Mira tried not to react to the adult language, thinking yes, this situation probably does merit that. “ That’s not what I meant.”

“ Yes it is. I’m not supposed to be here, I’m just a stupid muggle and I better go back to my stupid muggle life.” She muttered, and Mira then realized that this wasn’t a revelation for her sister, that all her downplaying in her letters about the virtues of magic hadn’t worked.

“ No, Anya.” Mira began to protest, but she didn’t really have anything to say. How could you tell a twelve year old that muggle life was where they belonged without making them feel absolutely terrible? You can’t.

Anya glared, “ I don’t want to talk to you.” And she stalked off to her own corner of the room to sulk.

When Mira turned around she realized all the other Tilson students were watching, Rina and Liam about to interject, to try to make things better, but Mira knew this situation was too fucked to be made better, and she was suddenly boiling in anger again.

_What the fuck had Moll been thinking?_

_And why the fuck wasn’t she here now?_

She had to find her, and she had to get answers now.

Without looking at anyone, without saying anything, she stormed out of the room, ignoring the protests and questions being asked after her.

* * *

She had no idea where Moll would be, she didn’t even have a concept of how much time had passed since the end of the second task. It could have been twenty minutes, it could have been seven hours. On auto-pilot she headed for the clearing, her tent being the best place to start.

Her thoughts were in circular anger, although unlike on the beach, when it had seemed empowering, now it was embittered, and she couldn’t shake the awful feeling in her chest. She had been justified on the beach, she had one hundred percent known that she was in the right, but now, with Anya hating her and miserable, with the very real threat that they would erase her memory, and her sudden uncertainty if maybe that would be for the better, she felt powerless once again, and physically ill about it.

And Moll, hadn’t even spoken to her since she’d resurfaced from the lake. Moll hadn’t been so many things, and now she’d gone and put her and Anya in this awful position without so much of a whisper of recognition that this was _wrong_ that this caused problems, and not the kind that could be solved. If Anya went back with her own memories she would continue to be plagued by the reality of her own muggleness, more acutely than if she had been spared the splendour of Hogwarts, she would go back knowing Mira had lied to her about it, had been for years. If she did have her memories erased… That seemed like baseline wrong. Anya would be spared the awfulness of this day, but Mira would remember it forever and know she’d taken the truth away from her sister. And what of complications? Altering the brain that’s still developing can’t be good for it. Mira saw no possible route of action that could rectify this properly.

She burst into Moll’s tent overflowing with fury.

And there Moll was, sitting at her desk, _reading_ , as if nothing were the matter.

Mira immediately started yelling, without a single pause for breath. “ What the fuck is wrong with you? How could you do this to Anya, and now you’re just sitting here like nothing’s wrong, and the ministry is going to erase her memories, and she _hates_ me now because of you, and you can’t even tell me the truth about my magical abilities, and you’ve been completely absent as a teacher for months, where the hell have you been, what the hell are you _doing,_ what the fuck happened to Chel because it sure as fuck wasn’t a creature! _?_ Anya is going to be so fucked up from this experience, I can’t believe the irresponsibility, the immorality!” The words tumbled out of Mira, rather incoherently, the only thing making much sense being her tone, which was that of explosive anger.

Despite the dramatics, Mira had not anticipated Moll to regard her with actual shock. She’d already blown up about this once, why was it a surprise now? But Moll was looking at her in shock, even worry, something she’d never seen in her matron’s face before. And that’s when Mira noticed that Moll’s desk had become drenched in water, and that Moll’s eyes were not regarding her face but her arm, which was no longer there.

Moll’s expression recovered as Mira’s fell into horror. “ I do believe that potion of yours has some residual effects.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for taking the time out of your life to read this little thing :)


End file.
